The Bond Market Association has submitted a reply to the Financial Services Authority's consultation paper on the topic of conflicts of interest in investment research. The BMA believes the proposal does not make a distinction between equity and fixed-income research and argues there are rules already on the books in the U.K. to deal with conflict of interest issues in research, says John Ramsay, senior v.p. and regulatory counsel at the BMA.
In addition, if the U.K. were to adopt its own set of rules without considering how international guidelines evolve, there may be a severe limitation of cross-border information flow, he adds. The consultation paper CP171 outlines proposed changes to equity and fixed-income research in the aftermath of the well-publicized settlement in the U.S. The complete text of the BMA's response to CP171 appears on its Web site, www.bondmarkets.com.