Hledat v komentářích
Investiční doporučení
Výsledky společností - ČR
Výsledky společností - Svět
IPO, M&A
Týdenní přehledy
 

Detail - články
Keep Financial Regulation Out of US-EU Trade Talks

Keep Financial Regulation Out of US-EU Trade Talks

29.07.2013 17:22

The United States and the European Union have embarked on a new round of trade talks, which holds out the promise of deepening the two sides’ already robust economic relationship. But the talks should not be used to weaken US financial reforms that are just taking root.

The EU’s Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier, has been barnstorming the US, looking for support to include financial services as part of the talks on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Meanwhile, the financial industry is pushing the talks as a way to overturn the pesky – and highly effective – rules being implemented in the US under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Tough new rules on derivatives, capital requirements, financial structure, consumer and investor protections, and the like could be jeopardized in the trade talks, with the US Congress able to hold only an up-or-down vote on a final agreement, which would encompass a broad range of topics. And other commentators view the talks as another forum for cooperation, hoping that trade negotiations will improve coordination among financial regulators.

The US would be wise to reject that view.

Now is not the time to place America’s hard-fought financial reforms at risk. Shadow banking is coming into the light; new derivatives regulation is entering into force; capital requirements are going to be higher; structural reforms and resolution authority are reducing subsidies; and investors and consumers are better protected.

The financial industry battled against this new legislation. It lobbied regulatory agencies and Congress to delay or weaken reforms after they were enacted; urged Congress to block key nominees and withhold essential funding; and launched aggressive lawsuits to stymie implementation of important rules. The last thing that the US (and the EU) needs is to enable the financial industry to have another bite at the apple. And that is exactly what trade talks – and subsequent Congressional votes – would do.

To be sure, there have been sharp disagreements between the US and Europe over elements of reform. Until this month, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission had been at odds with Barnier over the territorial scope of US derivatives rules. Likewise, the Federal Reserve’s proposed capital and holding-company requirements for foreign firms operating in the US – while better than national treatment and, in my judgment, prudent – deeply angered the European Commission. And the US has been concerned about providing for national treatment in European rules governing derivatives, as well as rules regarding hedge fund managers.

Yet there are plenty of other fora in which to resolve disagreements between US and European regulators, including the bilateral process that resulted in the recent agreement between the US and Europe on a framework for derivatives regulation. The G-20 has been driving financial reforms at a global level; the Financial Stability Board pursues agreement among regulators; and technical teams at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors hash out industry-relevant reforms.

The last thing we need is another process, particularly one not focused on how to prevent another financial meltdown like the one from which the US and Europe are still trying to recover. Trade talks would merely serve as a one-way ratchet to pull back from reforms, not advance them.

Globally, there is certainly much work still to be done. On bank resolution, the US has a solid framework in place, but is still working through how to make winding down a major financial firm plausible; in Europe, there is agreement on the need for resolution authority, but a lot more to do to make this authority work within the context of EU member states’ legal and political frameworks.

On derivatives, there is now general agreement on how to approach trading, clearing, and transparency, but much more work to do on capital requirements, margin requirements, clearinghouse supervision, and other issues. Capital and liquidity rules are taking shape, but a final agreement is still on the horizon, rather than close at hand.

I am all for a stronger, harder push to reach global agreement on core reforms. In fact, such an agreement is essential in order to reduce the chances of another devastating global financial crisis. But there is no reason to seek to accomplish this through trade talks that would likely weaken, not strengthen, the forces of reform.

Michael S. Barr is Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Center for American Progress. In 2009-2010, he served as US Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions, and was a key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.


Váš názor
Na tomto místě můžete zahájit diskusi. Zatím nebyl zadán žádný názor. Do diskuse mohou přispívat pouze přihlášení uživatelé (Přihlásit). Pokud nemáte účet, na který byste se mohli přihlásit, registrujte se zde.
Aktuální komentáře
31.08.2025
16:59Damodaran: Trh ví nejlépe, kde mají být valuace. Sazby nejsou důležité
8:16Víkendář: Může dolar zůstat dominantní světovou měnou i při jeho výrazném oslabení?
30.08.2025
16:14Čína za volantem: Její elektromobily přepisují globální automobilový trh
8:13Víkendář: USA potřebují slabší dolar
29.08.2025
22:02Wall Street zkorigovala předešlé rekordy: technologie táhly trh dolů, inflace prozatím potvrzuje zářijové snížení sazeb  
17:48Perly týdne: AI obavy, atraktivní finanční sektor
15:57Čínský gigant Alibaba vyvíjí vlastní AI čip
14:54Čtvrtletní zisk čínské automobilky BYD poprvé za tři a půl roku klesl
14:35Míra inflace v Německu vzrostla v srpnu na 2,2 procenta, uvedli statistici
14:25Některé ekonomické teorie možná stojí za připomenutí. Třeba ta o vytěsňování
13:06Malé zásilky už nejsou „příliš malé na to, aby na nich záleželo". USA skoncovaly s celní výjimkou
12:53SAB Finance a.s.: Pozvánka na valnou hromadu SAB Finance a.s
11:24Dánská ekonomika zpomaluje s Novo Nordiskem. Vláda snížila letošní odhad růstu o polovinu
11:02Pale Fire Financing a.s.: Oznámení o osmé výplatě úrokového výnosu
11:01Páteční dopoledne akciím ani dluhopisům nesvědčí, roli hraje opatrnost před daty  
10:07HDP revidován vzhůru, naděje na další pokles sazeb klesá
10:06Colt CZ kupuje Synthesii Nitrocellulose za 22 miliard korun, miliardář Pražák se stane třetím největším akcionářem  
9:00Colt CZ kupuje firmu Synthesia Nitrocellulose a energetickou divizi Synthesie
8:51Evropa spíše negativní, Colt CZ investuje do Synthesia Nitrocellulose  
8:48Rozbřesk: Má ECB hotovo? V září si může pauzu dále prodloužit

Související komentáře
Nejčtenější zprávy dne
Nejčtenější zprávy týdne
Nejdiskutovanější zprávy týdne
Kalendář událostí
Nebyla nalezena žádná data