Legislation under discussion

MiFID is a directive that covers all the investment services in financial products in Europe. The directive sets in particular the European rules for trading of shares. MiFID also aims at protecting the consumers of financial products by imposing information requirements on providers of investment services in relation to their clients. The directive came into [...]

The European Union proposes to revise its rules on bank capital through a new Directive and Regulation, collectively known as the Capital Requirements Directive 4 (CRD4). CRD4 would translate into European laws the international standards agreed at G20 level (Basel III). The official goals of the legislation are to “strengthen the resilience of the EU [...]

Speculation against the shares of major European banks during the financial crisis and current speculation on sovereign debt of Euro-zone countries have convinced the European Commission to propose a curb on these practices. The European Commission has in particular proposed to restrict naked short selling i.e. the sale of securities that are not owned and [...]

This regulation is part of the commitments taken by the European Union at G20 level with the objective of regulating the market in over-the-counter derivatives. The regulation aims to ensure the transparency of these transactions and to reduce the risks associated with these products by imposing the use of clearing houses. Standardised and liquid derivatives [...]