Download PDF, Issue 26 - Swiss Futures and Options Association

Focus
Union’s regulators in terms of regulatory
culture, attitudes, powers, practice and
procedure suggest that that
would simply not be the case. The
establishment of an EU SEC – at
this stage – would merely serve to
internalise these differences and
generate the creation of a
Leviathan regulator mired in the
process of political consensusbuilding
across 25 member states
and by bureaucratic processes
which would snag innovation
and market development.
Levelling the Regulatory Playing
Field
If the preferred goal is to establish effective
coordination and commonality
across the rules and procedures of individual
member state competent authorities
and deliver a practical and effective
level of regulatory harmonisation (tempered
by the need for differentiation to
accommodate diverse markets and niche
financial service institutions), then structural
convergence is not an essential
pre-requisite. Indeed, the continuance of
individual authorities working to common
standards and principles would not
only preserve an important element of
“The establishment of
an EU SEC would merely
serve to internalise current
differences among European
regulators. ”
competitiveness in the development of
EU regulatory policy, but would ensure
the preservation of those regulatory
authorities which do have an open consensus-building
approach to regulation.
If we really want to achieve an effective
and efficient single market in financial
services, then it is vital that EU legislators
and regulators take into full
account the priorities of market operators
and financial service providers, particularly
in the context of their need for
their activities to be reasonably profitable,
innovative and competitive; and
the parallel needs of investors and consumers
to be able to conduct their trading
activities at reasonable cost with
all the benefits of open
rights of access to markets,
providers and products.
We ignore these
business priorities and
the need for market efficiency
at our peril.
Anthony Belchambers, CEO, FOA
The Futures and Options Association
(FOA) is the European industry association
for some 160 firms and institutions
which engage in the carrying on
of derivatives business, particularly
in relation to exchange-traded transactions,
and whose membership
includes banks, brokerage houses
and other financial institutions, commodity
trade houses, power and energy
companies, exchanges and clearing
houses, fund managers and firms
involved in supplying services into the
futures and options sector.
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SWISS DERIVATIVES REVIEW 26 – NOVEMBER 2004