Barnier mulls tough rules
THE EU’S internal markets commissioner strengthened his pledge to crack down on financial derivates yesterday.
Michel Barnier said an outright ban on naked short-selling is “an option that we are studying with seriousness”.
He told a conference in France he is confident that EU governments can find a compromise on the bloc’s new regulatory framework, and that he hopes EU supervisors for banks, insurers and other securities markets will be in place early next year.
“It will be very difficult to reach a deal but not impossible. The talks will go on over the summer,” he said.
Meanwhile, French economy minister Christine Lagarde told the conference the results of the first wave of banking stress tests will be out on 23 July, predicting the tests would show European banks to be “solid and healthy”.