Skip to main content

Newsroom

June 24, 2013

European Attacks on U.S. Regulators Must Not Be Allowed to Weaken U.S. Derivatives Rules

“Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for internal markets and services, unleashed an unprecedented and highly improper attack on U.S. regulators generally and the Commoidty Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and its Chairman, Gary Gensler, in particular (notably without actually naming the CFTC or Mr. Gensler). Mr. Barnier, in a Bloomberg op-ed, criticized the CFTC approach to cross-border implementation of the Dodd Frank financial reform law and the implementing regulations relating to derivatives, what Warren Buffett correctly referred to as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”

“Mr. Barnier, however, has grossly overstated what the Europeans have done and distorted what is being done in the U.S. Making matters worse, the timing of Mr. Barnier’s misleading public broadside against U.S. regulations is a clear attempt to interfere with ongoing, sensitive deliberations among U.S. regulators. Last December, the CFTC set a deadline of July 12 regarding its cross-border approach and, with just three weeks to go, Mr. Barnier published his attack in an inappropriate attempt to influence the CFTC and U.S. rulemaking.

“The primary premise of Mr. Barnier’s opinion piece is simply wrong: Europe’s rules are not stronger and better than the U.S. rules and the U.S. should not surrender its regulatory duties to European rules or wait for Europe to finish the many rules still being negotiated. A truth Mr. Barnier failed to mention is that Europe is years behind the U.S. in passing financial reform laws and regulations generally and derivatives rules in particular.”

***

Read Dennis Kelleher’s full Huffington Post piece here

In the News
Share

MEDIA REQUESTS

For media inquiries, please contact us at
press@bettermarkets.org or 202-618-6433.

Contact Us

For media inquiries, please contact press@bettermarkets.org or 202-618-6433.

To sign up for our email newsletter, please visit this page.

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign Up — Stay Informed With Our Monthly Newsletter

"* (Required)" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

For media inquiries,

please contact press@bettermarkets.org or 202-618-6433.

Donate

Help us fight for the public interest in our financial markets, protecting Main Street from Wall Street and avoiding another costly financial collapse and economic crisis, by making a donation today.

Donate Today