Federation of European Securities Exchanges President Maps Out European Bourses’ Priorities

On the occasion of the Federation’s 30-year celebration, Massimo Capuano, the President of the Federation and President and CEO of Borsa Italiana, emphasised the importance of Exchanges for the efficiency and attractiveness of Europe’s financial markets. He said:

“It is FESE’s foremost priority to communicate the essential role of Exchanges as the optimal institution for the allocation of capital in the primary and secondary markets. They fulfil this role for the benefit of the European economy and of its businesses and citizens.”

The FESE President added that European regulation must avoid curbing the strategic flexibility and innovativeness needed by Europe’s Exchanges to further improve and extend their services. Under permanent oversight by competition and regulatory authorities, Exchange operators must be permitted to provide a full range of financial market services that extend far beyond the running of an execution-only engine but may include listing, trading, settlement, clearing, data vending, information distribution and other services.

In a report on FESE’s post-FSAP priorities that is being published on the occasion, Europe’s Exchanges underline that after the completion of the core legislative programme of the FSAP (the European Commission’s Financial Services Action Plan), attention must now turn to proper implementation of all new EU laws throughout Member States. The report critically mentions delays and discrepancies that emerge already now as further steps are being taken for the implementation of the Market Abuse Directive in Europe.

Given the increasing cross-border activities of European Exchange operators as well as clearing and settlement institutions, FESE urges European regulators to increase and reinforce their cooperation.

“The traditional home-country control principle falls short of recognising a growing number of situations where market infrastructure providers organise themselves on a cross-border basis with a view to delivering integrated services and economies of scale – both of which are themselves powerful contributions to the Single Market”, …

… writes Olivier Lefebvre, Member of the Managing Board of Euronext and coordinator of FESE’s post-FSAP Report. He calls for a revised approach of cooperation between regulators based on enhanced trust and concrete common action.

Further in its Report, FESE sends the same message about joint action based on trust to the US SEC.

Click here for a copy of the report.