Brussels, 08/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 June, the European Commission welcomed the fact that the results of the public consultation on the setting in place of a Capital Markets Union (CMU) identify the same areas for action and support the gradual regulatory approach that the Commission is to focus on.
“The message that emerges from the responses to our consultation (is) that we are on the right track. That we are concentrating on the right areas. That we have identified the right issues. That we are right to be taking a step-by-step approach”, said the Commissioner for Financial Services, Jonathan Hill, at a conference on the CMU in Brussels (see EUROPE 11256).
The Commission is to present a specific action plan in the autumn. A few “weeks” later, it will table legislative proposals on the most urgent issues which are likely to produce results quickly. This initially concerns the initiative on the revitalisation of the European market for securitised products, to make them standardised, simple and transparent, without repeating the errors of the past. This will aim to “put in place more appropriate capital and solvency requirements for investors, so that simple securitisation products do not end up being penalised”, the Commissioner explained.
Hill also spoke of a “radical” revision of the Prospectus Directive, which requires companies planning to issue shares on the regulated markets to publish a prospectus for investors, containing information about these instruments and their activities. The aim of the legislative revision will be to simplify the obligations on small issuers and to make it easier for companies to carry out a secondary issuance.
In order to stimulate investments by insurance companies in infrastructure, the Commission will propose to modify the insurance rules ('Solvency II') to include European long-term investment funds and to create a category of assets specific to infrastructure once the competent European authority (EIOPA) has returned its report, which it will do by the end of this month. Finally, in order to facilitate the cross-border provision of retail financial services, the Commission will present a Green Paper at the end of this year, focusing on barriers to the single market and investor protection. (Mathieu Bion)