The Swedish authorities fleshed out its priorities relating to monetary regulation throughout its six months on the helm of the rotating presidency of the EU Council, in a presentation for member states’ monetary attachés, seen by EURACTIV.
The presentation focuses on guidelines that goal to sort out cash laundering and the financing of terrorism.
In 2021, the European Fee proposed the so-called anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) bundle, together with a legislative proposal for a single AML/CFT rulebook and a proposal to arrange a European authority for AML and CFT.
Member states agreed on a typical negotiating place on the one rulebook in December 2022. Now, the Swedish presidency needs to start out and advance discussions with the European Parliament, in line with the presentation.
Furthermore, it needs to “focus progress on the brand new AML authority”, on which the EU member states have already got a partial settlement. The one factor they haven’t been in a position to agree on is the place within the EU the authority ought to be primarily based. The European Parliament, in the meantime, has not but agreed on a place.
Some ambition for the Capital Markets Union
The Swedish presidency of the EU Council would additionally wish to push for an additional integration of the Capital Markets Union (CMU). There are a lot of ongoing negotiations between member states and the European Parliament on this subject.
The European Inexperienced Bond Commonplace (GBS), for instance, ought to outline which monetary merchandise will be labelled as inexperienced bonds to ensure the integrity of the designation and forestall greenwashing. Parliament and member states haven’t agreed on a typical place, nevertheless.
The identical is the case for the European Single Entry Level (ESAP). The goal of this proposal is to create a single level of entry to public monetary and sustainability-related details about EU firms and EU funding merchandise.
Different legislative recordsdata at present being negotiated between member states and the EU Parliament are the amendments to the directive referring to undertakings for collective funding in transferable securities (UCITS), that covers mutual funds, and the choice funding funds supervisor directive (AIFMD), that covers hedge funds and personal fairness.
Amendments to the markets in monetary devices regulation (MiFIR), that regulates funding companies, are additionally below evaluation between the 2 legislative our bodies of the EU.
The Swedish presidency’s CMU push takes up the baton from the European Fee, which proposed three legislative modifications in December to additional the mixing course of.
The presidency explicitly mentions the Itemizing Act as a problem on which it needs to progress. With the Itemizing Act, the Fee needs to make it much less burdensome and costly for SMEs to get listed on the inventory market, with the broader goal to push European firms extra in direction of fairness funding as an alternative of counting on the standard financial institution loans.
Monetary stability
Monetary stability points are additionally on the menu, each for banks and insurances.
Concerning banks, the capital necessities directive in addition to the capital necessities regulation are within the highlight. The financial committee of the European Parliament is about to vote to agree on a typical negotiating place on 24 January.
Whereas this doesn’t depart an excessive amount of time, the Swedish Presidency has set itself the aim of reaching a political settlement with the European Parliament earlier than the tip of June.
As discussions within the Parliament on capital necessities for insurance coverage firms within the Solvency II directive are usually not too far alongside but, because of fights over the inclusion of sustainability standards, the Swedish presidency can’t be anticipated to deliver the directive to a detailed earlier than July.
Concerning funds, in the meantime, the Swedes have set themselves the aim to succeed in a typical place amongst member states on the moment funds regulation. The Fee had proposed this regulation in October 2022 to advertise the supply of euro-denominated immediate funds.
Luca Bertuzzi contributed to the reporting.
