A European Commission-backed report has called for the “concerted removal” of barriers to clearing and settlement in the EU.
The so-called second Giovannini Report today said the barriers would be replaced by a “set of technical standards, market conventions, regulations and laws that are consistent with a barrier free environment for the provision of post-trading services”.
The 62-page report from a group headed by Italian asset management executive Alberto Giovannini set “aggressive but realistic deadlines” for the removal of the barriers it identified in its first report in 2001.
“We believe that the economic and social benefits of the reform far outweigh the inevitable costs that he industry will have to incur to adapt to the new regime,” Giovannini said. “Building integrated and efficient clearing and settlement arrangements is urgent and functional to other initiatives to strengthen the EU financial system,” he added.
The 2001 report had identified 15 barriers – based in market practice/regulatory requirements, tax procedures and issues of legal certainty.