Activites

• 2005/07/07 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0301/2005 summary

    The European Parliament adopted the report drawn up by Piia-Noora KAUPPI (EPP-ED, FI) by 470 votes for, 20 against and 82 abstentions. (Please refer to the summary dated 24/05/2005).Parliament supports the goal set out in the abovementioned Commission communication of an efficient, integrated and safe market for clearing and settlement of securities in the EU. It believes that the creation of efficient EU clearing and settlement systems will be a complex process, and notes that true European integration and harmonisation will require the combined efforts of different stakeholders and that the current public policy debate should take due account of the principles underpinning Directive 2004/39/EC and focus on: a) bringing down the cost of cross-border clearing and settlement; b) ensuring that systemic or any other remaining risks in cross-border clearing and settlement are properly managed and regulated; c) encouraging the integration of clearing and settlement by removing distortions of competition; and d) ensuring proper transparency and governance arrangements.Moreover, Parliament believes that, as a general principle, legislation by the EU should be subject to a cost-benefit analysis and that the EU should resort to legislation where there is clear risk of market failure and where legislation is an effective and proportionate way to remedy clearly identified problems.It states that if the Commission, on the basis of the results of the impact assessment study, does opt for legislation, its proposal should particularly focus on:- re-confirming and strengthening access rights in order to ensure fair and non-discriminatory access to central clearing and settlement service providers;- strengthening passporting rights for providers of clearing and settlement services supported, when needed, by regulatory convergence;- allowing for transparency and enabling market forces to work effectively;- achieving consistency of regulation, supervision and transparency to enable providers of clearing and settlement services to manage systemic risk and anti-competitive behaviour;- establishing a functional approach to the regulation of different players, which takes into account the different risk profiles and competitive situations of different entities;introducing definitions that are coherent and consistent with existing market practices and with the terms used globally and within the EU.Lastly, it agrees with the Commission that it is principally the market that should decide the structure of clearing and settlement services; considers that no particular model should be mandatory, e.g. user owned and governed, shareholder owned, publicly owned.

• 2005/07/06 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2005/06/06 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A6-0180/2005
• 2005/05/24 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• #2623
• 2004/11/25 Council Meeting
• 2004/11/18 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2004/04/29 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(2004)0312 summary

    PURPOSE : outlines the actions the Commission intends to undertake in order to improve Clearing and Settlement arrangements with a view to ensuring a level playing field among the different providers of Clearing and Settlement services.CONTENT : the creation of an integrated and efficient European capital market is one of the most important and ambitious economic projects currently under way in the European Union. Since 1999, when the Financial Services Action Plan was launched, considerable progress has been made towards this goal, both in terms of legislative measures and market integration.A crucial element of this framework will be the safety and efficiency of the arrangements required to finalise securities transactions ("Clearing and Settlement"). These arrangements, largely invisible to the retail investor, lie at the core of all securities markets and are indispensable for their proper functioning.The Communication defines the key policy objectives that the Commission has taken into account in proposing future action at the EU level. It includes an action plan outlining the various initiatives that need be undertaken to achieve an integrated, safe and efficient securities clearing and settlement environment in the EU.In this Communication the term "Clearing and Settlement" is intended to describe the full set of arrangements required to finalise a securities or derivatives transaction. These arrangements encompass a broad collection of institutions, instruments, rules, procedures, standards and technical means.In this Communication, the Commission outlines the actions it intends to undertake in order to improve Clearing and Settlement arrangements. The Commission's approach is based on the following considerations:- the objective to be pursued is the achievement of an efficient, integrated and safe market for securities clearing and settlement;- the integration of securities clearing and settlement systems will require the combined intervention of market forces and public authorities. In this context, the Commission will seek to promote co-ordination between private sector bodies, regulators and legislators so as to achieve the desired outcome as efficiently as possible;- in an integrated barrier-free environment, infrastructure providers and users of the relevant services should have access to and choice of their preferred, properly authorised and supervised clearing and settlement system, operating in full conformity with the EU's competition rules. In order to arrive at such a liberalised environment and to ensure the mutual recognition of systems, regulatory intervention at an EU level, through the adoption of a framework Directive, will be necessary.The Commission's overarching objective is the creation of EU Securities Clearing and Settlement Systems that are efficient and safe and which ensure a level playing field among the different providers of Clearing and Settlement services. In order to achieve this objective, the Commission considers that the following measures and policies need to be pursued:a) the liberalisation and integration of existing Securities Clearing and Settlement Systems through the introduction of comprehensive access rights at all levels and the removal of existing barriers to cross-border clearing and settlement;b) the continued application of competition policy to address restrictive market practices and to monitor further industry consolidation;c) the adoption of a common regulatory and supervisory framework that ensures financial stability and investor protection, leading to the mutual recognition of systems;d) the implementation of appropriate governance arrangements.The Commission invites comments on all aspects of this Communication from the European Parliament, the Council, the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, national regulatory and supervisory authorities, other EU level and national organisations and federations, market practitioners, institutional investors, infrastructure providers and all other interested parties by the 30th of July 2004. It will then finalise its decisions during 2005 as to the course of action it will adopt and the exact contents of any measures that may prove necessary.

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2004)0312
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0180/2005
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0301/2005

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)