Brussels, 15/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will have to postpone the entry into force of new stricter rules on state aid to banks because of the current situation on the financial markets. This is what European Commission Vice-President in charge of competition, Joaquín Almunia, indicated in a speech on Thursday 15 September during the Eurofi conference in Warsaw (Poland). This conference brings together European political leaders and the heads of banking establishments.
Before the summer, the commissioner planned to bring this new framework into force in 2012. It would provide more binding rules on bail out aid and for the restructuring of financial institutions in difficulty. He considered that it was necessary to leave the exceptional crisis system set up in 2008-2009 sector as soon as possible. However, “given the current market conditions, it would not be prudent to introduce the new rules too early. The situation that we have been confronting over the past few weeks requires the crisis regime in force on state aid to financial institutions to be extended beyond 2011”. The new regime will be introduced once the situation has stabilised.
With regard to maintaining a healthy level of competition in the financial sector and in the infrastructure underpinning it, Almunia also indicated that the Commission would carefully analyse the repercussions of the proposed merger between the New York-based NYSE/Euronext and Deutsche Börse stock markets. He indicated that the Commission would attempt to prevent the emergence of an actor who, “can establish a monopoly on the derivatives market in Europe”. While being well aware of the stakes at play, he provided assurances that the Commission decision with regard to this merger would exclusively be guided by “our duty to guarantee the effective functioning of the financial markets and to protect the interests of the users of these financial services”. This vigilance also extends to the financial information sector, where the Commission has begun a number of investigations involving Thompson Reuters, Standard and Poors and Markit. Another investigation was opened last year against ICE Clear for abuse of dominant position on the clearing market for CDS. (FG/transl.fl)