Brussels, 14/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 15 May, the European Commission will present a balance sheet of financial service reforms introduced at European level during EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier's term of office.
When introducing the G20's roadmap, the European Commission launched wide-scale reform in Europe to boost financial stability following the crisis of 2008. It says the reforms in the field of financial instruments, derivatives, naked short-selling, credit rating agencies, solvency rules and bank resolution have reduced the likelihood and negative impact of future crises.
The reforms have immediate implementation costs for the financial industry, but the Commission is convinced that in the long-term, the pros will outweigh the cons.
The next step is to introduce the legislation introduced by the Commission, and the European institution will be keeping a close eye on coherent application of the new rules within the single market. It will be drafting regular reports on the impact and effectiveness of legislation at European level.
Weary with this five-year marathon of legislative reform, the bank industry is calling for a cumulative impact assessment of the new rules before the reforms currently on the table are introduced, such as the proposed changes to the structure of banking and the planned financial transaction tax, not to mention any new legislation (see EUROPE 11076).
The European Commission stresses the importance of introducing the draft legislation already on the table, such as the changes to the structure of the banking sector, rules on shadow banking and financial benchmarks. The Commission says that it is working on a resolution scheme for financial bodies other thank banks.
The Commission will be promoting in international fora the reforms introduced in Europe and working to ensure coherent legislation is introduced in line with the G20 commitments in the world's biggest jurisdictions. (MB)