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On July 18, eight of the EU member states (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, and The Netherlands) published a joint statement on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) after Brexit. The joint statement sets out the shared views of the member states’ finance ministers and urges the European Union to use Brexit as a catalyst in the further development and integration of EU capital markets.
Continue Reading Eight EU Member States Publish Joint Statement on the Capital Markets Union Post Brexit

On March 12, as part of the development of the EU’s Capital Markets Union (CMU), the European Commission (EC) published two legislative proposals in relation to the cross-border distribution of collective investment funds within the EU:

  1. a Regulation (Proposed Regulation) facilitating the above and amending existing Regulations on European venture capital funds and European social entrepreneurship funds; and
  2. a Directive (Proposed Directive) amending the Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) IV Directive and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD).

Continue Reading EC Legislative Proposals on Cross-Border Distribution of Collective Investment Funds

On April 25, the European Commission (EC) published a speech given by Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (CMU), on the challenges facing EU financial services policy. In the speech, among other things, Mr. Dombrovskis considered the implications for financial services of the UK’s departure from the European Union,
Continue Reading European Commission Publishes Speech on Equivalence and Supervisory Convergence

On February 27, the European Commission (EC) published a report (Report) on its capital markets union (CMU) initiative addressing national barriers to capital flows. The Report sets out the initial findings of the EC’s group of representatives of member states on national barriers to cross-border capital flows and the steps that the EC expects member states to take to address them.
Continue Reading European Commission Publishes CMU Report on National Barriers to Capital Flows

On September 14, the European Commission (Commission) published a communication (Communication) in relation to the Commission’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan. The Communication is addressed to the European (EU) Parliament, EU Council, EU Central Bank and the EU Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, and calls for reforms under the CMU Action Plan to be accelerated.
Continue Reading European Commission Calls for Reforms Under the EU Capital Markets Union to be Accelerated

On June 2, the European Commission (EC) published a consultation document (Consultation) on barriers to cross-border distribution of investment funds in the European Union. The Consultation aims to build on issues identified in responses received to the EC’s call for evidence on the European Union’s regulatory framework for financial services (Call for Evidence), and forms part of the EC’s ongoing work towards the Capital Markets Union (CMU).
Continue Reading European Commission Publishes Consultation Document on the Cross-Border Distribution of Funds

On February 11, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its first Supervisory Convergence Work Programme for 2016 (SCWP). The SCWP supplements ESMA’s 2016 Annual Work Programme and sets out the initiatives ESMA will undertake to further supervisory convergence across the European Union (EU), in the context of ESMA’s Strategic Orientation for 2016–2020.

The SCWP confirms ESMA’s shift from single rulebook to supervisory convergence work and sets out the four key priorities for ESMA for 2016. These priorities include work to prepare for the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (together, MiFID II) (among other things), and work to ensure data and IT infrastructure necessary for MiFID II is in place. Other priorities also include advancing consistent supervision of over-the-counter derivatives markets, with a particular focus on EU central counterparties, and assisting the European Commission’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiatives (see the Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest edition of October 9, 2015 for further information on the CMU).
Continue Reading ESMA Publishes First Supervisory Convergence Work Programme

On September 30, simultaneously to its publication of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan (see the October 9 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest for further information on the CMU), the European Commission (EC) launched a Call for Evidence on the EU Regulatory Framework for Financial Services (Consultation).
Continue Reading European Commission Launches Call for Evidence on Financial Services Regulation

On September 30, the European Commission (EC) launched the Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan as the initial blueprint to help build a single market for capital within the European Union. The intention of the CMU is to help support more cross-border risk sharing, create deeper and more liquid markets, and diversify the sources of funding available. As part of the CMU implementation, the EC will seek to remove barriers that currently inhibit cross-border investments in the European Union so as to facilitate companies and infrastructure projects raising the finance they need, regardless of location in the European Union. The EC also will promote the use of alternative sources of finance (complementary to bank financing)––which are seen as playing a bigger role in the European Union in providing financing, especially with respect to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-up businesses––while also mitigating the impact of further issues in the banking sector on companies and their access to finance. 
Continue Reading European Commission Launches Capital Markets Union Action Plan