Pers- en Nieuwsberichten
7
februari 2001
Europese gedragsregels voor bescherming beleggers
Het forum van Europese toezichthouders op effectenverkeer (Forum of
European Securities Commissions, FESCO) heeft met de publicatie van
het document Harmonisatie van de gedragsregels voor bescherming van de
belegger een belangrijke stap voorwaarts gezet naar de harmonisatie
van Europese toezichtregimes. Het document is tot stand gekomen onder
voorzitterschap van STE-bestuurslid Jacob Kaptein en wordt vandaag
middels onderstaand persbericht door FESCO openbaar gemaakt.
Het harmoniseren van gedragsregels die een effecteninstelling in acht
neemt in relatie met klanten heeft hoge prioriteit voor de Europese
Commissie. Het wordt beschouwd als een voorwaarde om te komen tot
verdere ontwikkeling van een Europese markt. Het doel van de
harmonisatie van gedragregels is een goede bescherming aan de Europese
belegger te bieden en tegelijkertijd te komen tot meer concurrentie,
efficiëntie en transparantie. In het document zijn de regels die
binnen de verschillende lidstaten gehanteerd worden, geharmoniseerd.
Voor Nederland betekent dit met name dat de gedragsregels die de
Stichting Toezicht Effectenverkeer (STE) hanteert (beschreven in de
Nadere Regeling toezicht effectenverkeer 1999) meer gedetailleerd zijn
uitgewerkt.
Voor effecteninstellingen heeft de harmonisatie als voordeel dat de
instellingen in alle FESCO-lidstaten met dezelfde regelgeving aan de
slag kunnen.
In alle FESCO-lidstaten worden marktpartijen gevraagd te reageren op
het document. Daar is een periode van drie maanden voor uitgetrokken.
In Nederland zorgt de STE voor deze consultatie. FESCO zal alle
reacties uit de consultatieronde bezien en verwerken om vervolgens met
een definitief document te komen. Lidstaten hebben vervolgens een
inspanningsverplichting om de geharmoniseerde gedragsregels te
implementeren.
Bijgaand treft u het originele FESCO-persbericht.
FESCO Consultative Paper on "the Harmonisation of Core Conduct of Business Rules for Investor Protection" (ref. FESCO/00-124b)
During its last meeting in Vienna, FESCO members decided to start a
consultation process on their proposal for the harmonisation of
conduct business rules for investor protection (ref. FESCO/00-124b)
(see www.europefesco.org, section "Consultative Papers").
The area of investor protection and particularly the harmonisation of
article 11 of the Investment Services Directive (ISD) are considered
by FESCO members one of the major obstacles to the effective
cross-border provision of investment services. Conduct of business
regimes adopted at domestic level are still different throughout the
European Economic Area (EEA). The harmonisation of conduct of business
rules has been considered by the Financial Services Action Plan and by
a recent Communication from the European Commission on upgrading the
ISD, as a priority for the achievement of an integrated securities
market and an effective passport for investment firms.
A FESCO expert group, chaired by Jacob Kaptein, Commissioner of the
Dutch STE, has worked intensively in this area and, after a comparison
of different regimes throughout FESCO members, FESCO has:
- adopted in March 2000 a paper on the "Implementation of article 11
of the ISD: Categorisation of investors for the purpose of conduct of
business rules" (00-FESCO-A) following an intense period of
consultation. It provides criteria and procedures to implement an
appropriate differentiation between categories of investors; among
others, these criteria were endorsed by the European Commission in its
recent Communication on the interpretation of article 11 of the ISD,
which was widely welcomed by FESCO members;
- and agreed to start a consultation on an new paper on "The
harmonisation of core conduct of business rules for investor
protection" (ref. FESCO/00-124b).
These two documents are intended to be complementary and part of the
same exercise, aimed at providing a harmonised framework for the
provision of investment services throughout EEA. First, intermediaries
have to categorise their clients on the basis of the criteria laid
down in the FESCO document; then, depending on the outcome, either the
retail or the professional regime will apply.
The elaboration of these documents is a significant contribution to
the EU Action Plan for Financial Services developed by the European
Commission. In line with the conclusions of the Lisbon European
Council, this will contribute to enhancing investor confidence and,
therefore, to the implementation of efficient and transparent
financial markets in Europe.
The today's consultative paper is intended to be exhaustive: it covers
the provision of services to non-professional clients, as well as the
services rendered to professional investors. Furthermore, it provides
principles and rules on all aspects of the provision of the investment
services, as defined in Section A of the Annex to the ISD, but, where
appropriate, it covers non-core services.
The document is open to public consultation for a period of 3 months.
Toezichthouders Euronext sluiten overeenkomst
2 februari 2001
Stichting Toezicht Effectenverkeer / De Nederlandsche Bank
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON REGULATION, SUPERVISION AND OVERSIGHT
OF THE EURONEXT GROUP
The Belgian, Dutch and French authorities involved in the regulation,
supervision and oversight of Euronext, the merger of the exchanges of
Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, have agreed on a Memorandum of
Understanding that will ensure a co-ordinated approach of their
respective powers and responsibilities. This approach provides a
common and efficient regulatory framework for the progressive
integration of Euronext.
It is the first multilateral Memorandum of Understanding designed to
regulate a multi-jurisdictional cash and derivatives exchange. The
memorandum is open to additional national authorities, should Euronext
be enlarged to other exchanges.
The Memorandum of Understanding echoes a common letter of the
Ministers of Finance of Belgium, France and the Netherlands of 19
January 2001 on the regulation of Euronext and establishing a dialogue
between the Ministries.
The memorandum comprises two parts. The first part deals with the
regulation and supervision of the regulated markets operated by
Euronext. The main objective of this part is that the signatory
authorities agreed to co-operate in order to set up a coherent
regulatory framework that will foster the efficiency of the regulatory
system on the securities markets involved. Such is of importance to
maintain the integrity of Euronext's regulated markets and thereby
ensure the confidence of investors.
The second part deals with the clearing activities of Euronext,
handled by Clearnet. The basic objective of this part of the
memorandum is to ensure that the competent authorities involved in the
clearing will closely work together in the supervision and oversight
of the clearing house and its systems, based upon a common adequate
and effective supervisory and oversight framework as well as
co-ordinated action-plans.
For co-ordinating the activities coming from both parts of the
memorandum, two Committees will be set up.
The memorandum will take effect in February 2001.
Dit is een gezamenlijk persbericht van de verantwoordelijke Belgische,
Franse en Nederlandse financiele toezichthouders betrokken bij
Euronext.