EU

Review of the EU’s investment service directive (ISD)

Karel Lannoo. Centre for European Policy Studies. Klannoo@ceps.be

The European Commission is proposing a systematic review of the ISD. The specific form this review will take is not yet known, but the Commission has, in a recent discussion paper, proposed to open a whole series of provisions for adjustment. The investment services directive came into force in 1996 and introduced the single licence for investment firms and regulated markets in the EU. Although the directive has had a considerable effect, harmonisation has gone insufficiently far and relied too much on mutual recognition, which has hampered market integration.