The future is European

Brian McDonnell reports on the sea change towards European-led supervision, as we head into the decade with new “watchdogs with a bite”.

Brian McDonnell (brian.mcdonnell@olswang.com) is a partner at Olswang, where he heads the financial services regulatory group.

From 1 January 2011, a new European financial supervisory framework will be operational. The key features of the reform are the establishment of a European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and three European Supervision Authorities (ESAs) (the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)). EBA, ESMA and EIOPA will replace the existing Level 3 committees, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS).