‘Trading screens’ warning

Date: 12/06/03

A SENIOR US financial regulator has warned EU stock exchanges not to expect to escape American rules when they set-up 'trading screens' giving Wall Street investors direct access to European markets.

EU markets say rules and regulations, including the need to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) make it virtually impossible to set up trading screens in America - even though the markets already face strict regulations in their home country.

But Roel Campos, a SEC commissioner, told a Brussels conference that the 'onerous' rules are there for a good reason. "Exemption from the registration requirements goes to the heart of the SEC's mandate to protect investors," said Campos in a text prepared for delivery.

"The Commission imposes significant regulatory requirements on exchanges, as well as on issuers who list on those exchanges, whether foreign or domestic.

"The exemptions being requested by some foreign exchanges would create access to US investors on different terms than those available to US exchanges.

"This, in turn, puts considerable stress on our system of regulation disrupting the level playing field we have created for all market participants," he added.

The trading screens issue is one of a handful of disputes affecting EU-US relations in the financial services sector. Nevertheless, Campos said US authorities were working hard to grant as many exemptions as possible from American rules. These include the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley act - the law designed to tackle the crisis in the US financial system after corporate meltdowns such as the collapse of energy giant Enron.