On Friday 17 November, the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, suggested extending the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to make it a true stock market watchdog at European Union level, similar to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the aim of stimulating the development of a capital markets union.
ESMA already directly supervises certain financial players such as rating agencies. “Supervision remains largely at...