CESR has approved the retail regime as set out in the paper "A European Regime of Investors Protection: the Harmonisation of the Conduct of Business Rules" (Ref. CESR/01-014d). This set of Standards and Rules provides harmonised core conduct of business rules for retail investors in the following areas: standards and rules of general application, information to be provided to customers, the "know your customer" standards and the duty of care, customers agreements, dealing requirements (including the "best execution" standards) and individual discretionary portfolio management. The professional and counterparty regime, including the categorisation of investors paper, requires further work by CESR.
CESR has approved the paper "Stabilisation and Allotment, a European Supervisory Approach" (Ref. CESR/02-020b). This paper provides harmonised standards for Stabilisation practices in the context of a public offer and an harmonised disclosure regime for the Allotment of securities as well as some basic principles of the Allotment process. This work has not been elaborated under a formal mandate of the EU Commission in the context of the future Directive on Insider Dealing and Market Manipulation or the future Directive on Prospectuses. However, these standards represent an important "acquis" for any future work to be undertaken on the same subject.
The documents referred to above will be published shortly on the CESR Internet Home Page: www.europefesco.org.
CESR will continue to contribute to the ongoing work undertaken by the EU Commission on the revision of the ISD. The work on the regulation of Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs) is nearing completion. CESR has now decided to create an Expert Group on Market Transparency and Efficiency with a remit to explore the interactions between four elements: Transparency, Price Formation, Best Execution and Market Structure of secondary markets. Claes Norgren, Director General of the Swedish Finansinspektionen, will chair the group. A preliminary report is expected to be tabled at CESR's June meeting..
CESR has received from the European Commission two requests for advice on possible implementing measures on the future directive on Market Abuse and on the future directive on Prospectuses. To prepare this work two Expert Groups have been established:
- An Expert Group on market Abuse, chaired by Pr. Stavros Thomadakis, Chairman of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission;
- An Expert Group on Prospectuses, chaired by Pr. Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, Chairman of the Portuguese Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliarios (CMVM).
Subject to final consultation with the European Commission, the EU Parliament and the European Securities Committee, CESR has decided to establish a high level Market Participants Consultative Panel with a limited number of members appointed on a personal basis. The role of the Panel will be to:
- provide comments on the way in which CESR is exercising its role, in particular in implementing its Public Statement on Consultation Practices;
- assist the Committee in the definition of priorities; and
- alert CESR about regulatory inconsistencies in the Single Market and major financial evolutions.
In view of the forthcoming Danish Presidency of the Union, the next meeting of CESR will take place in June in Copenhagen.
