Brussels, 02/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Savings Banks Group (ESBG) has appealed for a strict respect of the principle of subsidiarity in the area of financial services by stressing in a press release that the regulation of financial services "continue to remain regionally or nationally based". The ESBG "strongly believes that prudential supervision in the EU should be determined…at the national level" and that "The existence of a single European supervisory authority is therefore not a viable option". Supervision at national level however, according to Chris de Noose, President of the ESBG management committee, does not preclude the existence of supervisory cooperation at European level by way of a "European Roundtable for Systemic Stability", which would act as a "coordinator and facilitator between the different national supervisors".
At the same time, the organisation recognises that financial regulation should continue to be developed and adopted at European level and supports the extension of the Lamfalussy procedure but adapted to take into account sectoral specificities in order to ensure "close and formal industry involvement at all levels of the banking sector."