SIFMA pushes for better transatlantic regulation

As part of a coalition of 11 European and North American trade associations, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has released a report on improving cross-border financial services regulation.
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As part of a coalition of 11 European and North American trade associations, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has released a report on improving cross-border financial services regulation. The report is titled ‘The Three Gateways to Modernizing the Regulation of Cross-Border Transatlantic Business’.

“The transatlantic financial services market is a major driver of the global economy, and reducing unnecessary and duplicative regulations produces significant efficiencies and cost savings for market participants and investors,” said Bertrand Huet, managing director, European Legal & Regulatory Counsel, for SIFMA in London. “With transatlantic cross-border stock and bond trading nearing $40 trillion per year, investors will benefit significantly from a more coherent regulatory framework.”

David Strongin, managing director of SIFMA in New York, added, “Reducing barriers in the transatlantic financial market will enhance competition, decrease costs, and broaden customer choice and streamline financial services regulation. This, of course, requires cooperation among regulatory authorities who also derive serious and lasting benefit from enhanced contacts and consistent dialogue.”

SIFMA says it has long advocated US and EU efforts at the technical level to enhance and strengthen regulatory cooperation and understanding. SIFMA also supports immediate modernisation of Securities and Exchange rule 15a-6, which governs how foreign securities firms are able to interact with US clients, and the reform of which could dramatically reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers.

According to SIFMA, the report emphasises the need for more open transatlantic rights of access to non- domestic markets, products and services; proposes the adoption of three ‘gateways’ to establishing greater international regulatory coherence; and argues for regular and consistent industry input into the transatlantic regulatory dialogue to ensure that its commercial as well as its regulatory targets are delivered.

The association adds that the report also prioritises several areas of regulation where financial service providers and their counterparties and customers would benefit from greater harmonisation; and proposes measuring regulatory quality.

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