EU to create pan-European financial regulators
3rd September 2010
The European Union (EU) has agreed on reforms to the supervisory regimes of its members' financial industries, officials have confirmed.
States in the union and the European Commission will create three new agencies that will have the task of regulating banks, insurance companies and trading in financial markets from 2011, subject to ratification.
Regulatory groups in individual countries will retain the power to oversee the day-to-day supervision of their financial sectors, but the new bodies will work with them to enhance cross-border cooperation and protection.
In addition, the agreement calls for the establishment of a European Systemic Risk Council attached to the European Central Bank to monitor wider threats to financial stability in the EU.
Michel Barnier, the EU internal market commissioner, commented: 'We have reached a crucial milestone. We have reached a political consensus on the creation of a European financial supervisory framework.'
In June, chancellor George Osborne announced that the Financial Services Authority, the UK's regulator, will 'cease to exist in its current form' and be replaced with a number of other bodies.