Brussels, 26/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the European Commission is expected to adopt a communication on compensation and delivery regulation, operations that enable purchasers to transfer shareholder rights to sellers (confirmation of the order, confirmation of buyer/seller obligations, delivery forms, payment). The Communication begins with two months of consultation on the action plan and the draft of the "framework directive", based on mutual recognition of national inspection systems. In 2003, the Giovannini group identified fifteen obstacles of a technical, fiscal and legal nature, which explains the national compartmentalisation of this market. He also identifies up to eleven intermediaries for a single cross-border transaction, as opposed to five for a national operation. This means that consultation will also have to confirm the operators involved by possible legal harmonisation.
The report also indicates the strong concentration of market infrastructures: Euronext (stock exchange), Clearnet (compensation), Euroclear and Clearstream International (delivery regulation).
The French banking Federation recently took a position on the adoption of a directive on post-market, considering that it was indispensable to define rules for fair competition, which if they were not forthcoming, would create private monopolies. The Commission, nevertheless, is expected to take a cautious approach on the issue of market structure, while indicating that its competition services were expected to closely follow possible restrictive practice. This subject is in the final factor in the financial services action plan.