Brussels pulls out a compromise on financial regulation
The offensive of the City against Nicolas Sarkozy has not prevented French and British to agree, this Wednesday in Brussels on the minefield of financial regulation. For the first time the finance ministers of Twenty-Seven have decided to set up three financial supervisory authorities responsible for supervision of banks, insurers and markets.
To agree on the elements of this new pan-European, it took months of negotiations. The British holding back the four chains to the idea of delegating binding powers outside their borders.
Ultimately, everyone can find reasons for satisfaction with the agreement reached Wednesday. "Europe has made real progress in banking and finance, Christine Lagarde welcomed.The British have accepted the principle of a supranational authority, which in itself is a victory for proponents of regulation. They also "very well negotiated, they have no reason to say they have been crucified," said one diplomatic source.
Always worried about the competitiveness of the City, London approached these negotiations in a pre-election that did not help things. The British have always had trouble digesting the appointment of Michel Barnier at the French market, strategic position of the European Commission where he has the upper hand on financial services reform.
"Excess of Anglo-Saxon capitalism"
While Michel Barnier will arm British law.But this designation, hard-won by France, aroused discontent among Eurosceptics, who believe that the British government made a major strategic error by trading the market against the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the EU.
Outre-Manche, Michel Barnier appears as the Trojan horse of a European regulator and punctilious, and even a French offensive against the City. They fear that investors will eventually flee the main financial center of Europe. The French triumphalism exacerbates this feeling. Nicolas Sarkozy, who has made the financial regulatory standard-bearer, has seen the appointment of Michel Barnier, a victory for French theses against the "excesses of Anglo-Saxon capitalism."
As the grumbling has it ceased to mount last week.On Wednesday, the British finance minister, Alistair Darling called the future Commissioner Michel Barnier not have too heavy a hand in regulating. "London, like it or not, is the only place that truly competes with New York," he said in an article published by The Times.
"It is in the interest of all Europe that it can thrive r." And beware of excessive zeal: "If one is wrong, we risk losing business to other less regulated jurisdictions" , he said, referring to Switzerland, but also and especially to Asian financial centers like Hong Kong or Singapore.
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