Insurance M&A directive approved, with changes

The European Commission’s proposals to speed up mergers and acquisitions in financial services have been approved by the European Parliament in a first reading, although not without several changes. Internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy introduced draft legislation in September last year after several years of study into the slow progress of cross-border mergers in financial services. Mr McCreevy said he was unhappy with the current rules that allow national supervisors to block merger and acquisition proposals from other EU companies.