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More regulatory transatlantic co-operation
Practical Law UK Legal Update 7-500-5032 (Approx. 3 pages)
More regulatory transatlantic co-operation
by Simon Lovegrove, Norton Rose LLP
| Published on 13 Sep 2013 |
This article is part of the PLC Global Finance September e-mail update for the United Kingdom.
Speedread
In three separate announcements in August and September, the FSA has stated that it plans for greater regulatory co-operation with both the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Securities and Exchange Commisssion. This article outlines details of their plans.
In August and September there were three separate announcements by the FSA confirming greater transatlantic co-operation. These were:
- In August the FSA issued a press statement regarding further co-operation with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to strengthen cross-border supervision of the energy futures markets. The statement confirmed that both organisations would immediately work towards implementing strengthened surveillance over US linked energy contracts including enhanced direct access rights to trade execution and audit trail data and mutual on-site visits of exchange operators.
- In mid-September the FSA and the CFTC signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance co-operation and the exchange of information relating to the supervision of cross-border clearing organisations.
- The day after the MoU was signed the FSA issued a further press release stating that Hector Sants (CEO, FSA) and Mary Shapiro (chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)) would explore approaches to reporting and other regulatory requirements for key market participants such as hedge funds and their advisers. In particular, they agreed to establish a common set of data to obtain from hedge funds and their advisers to help them identify risks. This announcement came out of a meeting of the SEC-FSA Strategic Dialogue, through which the SEC and FSA leaders meet periodically to discuss areas of mutual interest.The press release also confirmed that their recent meeting was wide ranging covering:
- over-the-counter derivatives markets and central clearing;
- accounting issues;
- regulatory reform;
- credit rating agency oversight;
- short selling; and
- corporate governance and compensation practices.
As the FSA has already said many times this year, the global crisis has underlined how intertwined financial markets and institutions are and that there is a need for regulators around the world to work together to ensure appropriate oversight. In the coming months there will probably be more announcements from the FSA concerning greater co-operation, not just on a transatlantic basis but also on a European and international basis.