Brussels, 07/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Commissioner designate for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, Lord Jonathan Hill, showed greater familiarity with the dossiers directly related to the portfolio allocated to him at his second hearing before the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament, on Tuesday 7 October.
Describing himself as a steadfast European who hoped that the United Kingdom would remain a member of the EU, despite belonging to a political party which is no friend to the idea of political Europe, he gave only evasive answers about his lobbyist past. "It was not out of a lack of respect that I did not shed light on all of my earlier activities in my private life, but because many years have gone by and some of the companies concerned have changed hands", Lord Hill explained, defending himself as a networker.
The MEPs questioned him on the basis of his response to the 23 additional questions sent to him by the Parliamentary committee following his first hearing (EUROPE 11170 and 11067). In response to questions put by Othmar Karas (EPP, Austria) about his three main priorities, Lord Hill listed the stability of the financial system through, amongst other things, the "completion of banking union", making the "capital markets union" a reality and improving access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Pablo Zalba Bidegain (EPP, Spain) asked Lord Hill to clarify his vision of the capital markets union. He explained that this "exciting" project will consist of setting in place a body of uniform rules promoting a high degree of protection for investors, attracting investment from the whole world and encouraging a flow of capital in the segments of the market which most need it.
One of the first projects Lord Hill will be tackling will be to breathe new life into the securitisation market, on the basis of the principles of simplicity and transparency, in order to prevent a return of 'sub-prime' products, which caused the financial crisis of 2008. Investors must understand what they are buying, they need access to plenty of information in order to make an enlightened choice and the financial actors issuing securitised products must continue to bear a proportion of the risk in order to encourage them to issue quality products, he told Pervenche Berès (S&D, France).
Banking union. Elisa Ferreira (S&D, Portugal) once again asked Lord Hill if he was prepared to make a concrete proposal to bring in a single deposit guarantee regime. The Commissioner designate did not commit himself any more on Tuesday than he did at his first hearing. Nonetheless, in light of the implementation of the revised 'deposit guarantee' directive, the British Conservative said that he was prepared to consider an alternative to harmonisation, if the political conditions allow it between now and 2019. After all, a single regime for deposit guarantees is a "logical next step" following the creation of banking union, Lord Hill said.
In order to preserve financial stability, the Briton has undertaken to present a legislative proposal in 2015, to create a resolution framework for the non-bank actors.
As for the external dimension of his portfolio, Lord Hill pledged to defend the EU's rules promoting the recognition of rules with other jurisdictions, such as the United States. (MB)