Brussels, 29/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 28 November, European finance ministers adopted conclusions on the code of conduct agreed at the start of November by the European clearing and settlement industry, following a pubic debate attended by Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy (see EUROPE 9301). They warmly welcomed this code of conduct. They acknowledged that the Commission approach, based on self-regulation, was an attempt to encourage competition and reduce costs for users of these services. The implementation of the code will have to be closely monitored, they said however, while keeping in mind the possibility of further measures, including regulation.
Ministers called on the Commission to: - report on the implementation of the code of conduct by February 2007; - review issues related to the security and soundness of securities clearing and settlement infrastructure and review progress made in the removal of legal and fiscal obstacles by June 2007; - and to present a full assessment on the overall situation and possible future policy action by February 2008. They called on the Financial Services Committee to: - examine issues related to the TARGET2-Securities project by the European Central Bank and national central banks, which will decide by February 2007 whether to investigate further prior to the possibility of setting up a pan-European clearing and settlement platform for capital goods transactions in euro (see EUROPE 9283 and 9311); - and to assess the situation in this sector of activity by July 2007 and March 2008, ahead of ministerial-level discussions in autumn 2007 and spring 2008. (mb)