Brussels, 23/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - French finance minister Christine Lagarde has suggested changes to MiFID Directive 2004/39/EC on financial instrument markets in a letter sent this week to EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, which has been seen by EUROPE. Based on the recommendations of a report by member states' experts, she calls for greater transparency on the pre and post-negotiation money markets because the EU directive has not brought costs down for end investors. She wants the future European Securities Authority that will be set up by the financial supervision legislation to have greater powers. In its work programme, the European Commission's internal market department was planning to publish draft changes to the MiFID Directive in the first quarter of 2011.
Lagarde argues that the setting up of a single EU infrastructure to unify, coordinate and publish reliable and exhaustive post-negotiation information on the stock market is urgent. She says it should cover all share dealing, including those sold over the counter. She says that EU legislation will be required because the financial industry has not come forward with any measures itself since 2003. Lagarde says it is essential that pre-negotiation transparency is boosted in order to ensure efficient price formation. To this end, exemptions to pre-negotiation transparency must be re-examined and significantly scaled back. She has her eye on exemptions to price import mechanisms and negotiated transactions. Lagarde calls for the MiFID Directive to include provisions governing crossing networks.
Lagarde says that integration of the EU financial instruments markets requires greater powers for EU authorities when it comes to supervision, especially the powers of the future securities authority, which should have powers that are as far-reaching as possible covering areas like the drawing up of technical standards in order to be able to match the very fast evolution of the financial markets. (M.B./transl.fl)