Brussels, 24/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 February, the MEPs of the economic and monetary affairs committee of the European Parliament welcomed the consultation on the Capital Markets Union (CMU), which was recently initiated by the European Commission.
“We welcome this initiative” which adds to the Juncker investment plan, said Roberto Gualtieri (S&D, Italy), who chairs the parliamentary committee (see EUROPE 11256). This position was supported by the political groups of the EPP, S&D, ALDE and Greens/AFE.
Firmly convinced of the need to move this dossier forward quickly, Germany's Markus Ferber (EPP) and Sylvie Goulard of France (ALDE) questioned the Commissioner for Financial Services, Jonathan Hill, on the timetable. Can we wait for the end of the Commission's term in 2019 to finish up the work, given that banks are continuing to get into debt to comply with the new regulatory standards, Mr Ferber asked. “Anything that can be speeded up is welcome”, Goulard added. She also asked the Commissioner whether the role of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) would be beefed up to guarantee a proper capital markets union. The Commissioner, however, remained evasive.
Observing that “legislating takes time”, Hill said that progress on the CMU, a project which will cover all of the European Union, was also possible by a non-regulatory path. Nonetheless, questions related to boosting securitisation and the revision of the 'prospectus' directive - which are the subject of separate public consultations between now and mid-May - “are likely to lead to early legal proposals”, he stressed.
The MEPs were not greatly combative on the subject of securitisation. Only Fabio De Masi (GUE/NGL, Germany) expressed the view that the technique of 'tranching' was unlikely to improve the transparency of portfolios of debts converted into bonds by the banks and then transferred to investors.
Germany's Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA) also asked the Commissioner whether he was considering a specific initiative for “small local banks”. (Mathieu Bion)