CMC Invited to Meet with UK Exchequer

CMC was invited to meet with Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury and a senior member of the ruling Conservative Party. He opined that all jurisdictions are moving in the same direction when it comes to financial regulation, although he admitted that Europe is far behind the US in implementing reforms. He said that having the Financial Services Authority’s functions subsumed into the Bank of England will make for a more robust and comprehensive regulatory structure in the UK. On the Greece situation, he said that a breakup of the Eurozone would not be in the best interests of Europe. He stood firmly behind the British government’s plan to reduce their fiscal deficit by increasing taxes and decreasing public spending in the ratio of 1:3.

CMC Meets with the Confederation of British Industry

CMC met with a senior executive from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).  The CBI has 240,00 members – essentially companies of various sizes that operate in the U.K.  Their staff in Brussels has been active in lobbying European legislators and the European Commission on derivatives issues, from both the end-user and financial services perspectives.  CMC and CBI discussed the differences between Dodd-Frank-related rulemaking being promulgated by the CFTC and the rules being adopted by European regulators (e.g. the U.K. will not be imposing position limits, Europe does not have a “Volcker Rule” provision, the political rhetoric against speculation is strident in France, etc).

Europe Fears that Debt Crisis is Ready to Spread

Europe Fears That Debt Crisis Is Ready to Spread

By Landon Thomas Jr. and James Kanter

November 15, 2010

European officials worry that a crisis like the one that hit Greece could spread to Ireland and Portugal.