--Rob McGlinchey
The City of London should set the benchmark for how the over-the-counter derivatives and securitization markets should operate prior to the release of European legislation reforming both markets, Patrick Pearson, head of financial markets infrastructure at the European Commission, said at the Global ABS conference in London this morning.
“London is where these markets are,” Pearson said in his keynote address to the AFME/ESF and IMN Global ABS audience. He suggested the U.K. should possibly have a greater voice in the European legislative process, which could lead to doubts over whether the current majority vote across 27 E.U. nations is the way to get best regulation.
His comments are likely to be welcomed by the City of London, where around 43% of the global OTC market is originated. Michel Barnier, the E.U. commissioner of internal market and services, has also visited the City on a number of occasions in recent months assuring financial services professionals and members of the City of London Corporation that regulation is in the interests of the U.K. capital.
Pearson, who previously was in charge of making policy changes to the capital requirement directive at the Commission before moving on to lead reform of the OTC derivatives market, added that there also may be differences between the U.S. and the E.U. in derivatives reform. “The U.S. might come up with a trading requirement... [But] Europe has not taken that decision... this is one of those areas we might come up with a different approach.”
Yet despite the potential regulatory differences between the E.U. and U.S., he said that global regulatory coordination and the completion of impact assessments is crucial to getting derivatives and securitization regulation right. “Every Tuesday I have a call at 4:30pm with the [Commodity and Futures Trading Commission], the [Securities and Exchange Commission] and the [Federal Reserve Bank of New York], and a call every Friday with individual regulators,” he said.