EU Capital Markets Union: El Dorado or

INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES
School of Advanced Studies
|
University of London
EU CAPITAL MARKETS UNION: CONTENTS AND DISCONTENTS
Friday 3 July 2015
Venue: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
9.00-9.25
Registration
9.30-10.45
The policy and legal contexts of CMU
Welcome from Nicholas Dorn (1 minute). Preliminary remarks from session chairperson: Lord
Lyndon Harrison, recent chairman of the House of Lords EU Sub-Committee on Economic
and Financial Affairs (5 minutes)
■ CMU: where it comes from, what it is, relationship to the crisis-era reforms: Niamh
Moloney, Professor of Law, School of Law, London School of Economics (up to 30 minutes)
■ Importance of the CMU for the UK: Georg Ringe, Professor of International Commercial
Law, Department of Law, Copenhagen Business School (TBC).
10.45-11.00 Coffee/tea
11.00-11.45 Reservations: 1. Conduct issues
■ Conduct issues in capital markets: Justin O’Brien, Professor of Business Law and Ethics,
School of Business Administration, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
11.45-12.45 Reservations: 2. Can CMU deliver?
■ Focus on securisation: Dr Vincenzo Bavoso, Lecturer in Commercial Law, University of
Manchester and Research Associate, Institute of Hazard Risk & Resilience, Durham University
■ Tensions, conflicts, flaws: Dr Dieter Pesendorfer, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Queen’s
University Belfast
12.45-13.30 Buffet Lunch
13.30-14.30 Reservations: 3. What about the banks?
■ CMU and Banking Union: Kern Alexander, Professor of Law & Finance, Faculty of Law,
Zurich University
■ [Re-emphasis on banking]: FinanceWatch (invited).
14.30-15.45 Coffee/tea
15.45-16.30 The latest from Brussels
■ Market feedback: key points arising from the Consultation on the Green Paper: Gundars
Ostrovskis, DG-FISMA, European Commission (participation of the Commission is confirmed;
speaker to be confirmed).
■ Concluding Discussion.
16.30
Dispersal.
Conference location and conditions of attendance
Conference website: www.events.sas.ac.uk/events/view/18342
Venue: The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, 17 Russell Square, London
WC1B 5DR. This is within walking distance of St Pancras International rail station.
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies is a 1970s concrete and glass building located on the north
side of Russell Square on the corner of Russell Square and Bedford Way. Access to IALS is via a flight
of steps located a couple of meters inside Bedford Way. The nearest underground is Russell Square
Station on the Piccadilly Line. Map: www.ials.sas.ac.uk/about/about.asp
All participants are responsible for their own travel expenses.
REGISTRATION: Advance registration and pre-payment of the conference fee is required.
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Registration and online payments: www.events.sas.ac.uk/events/view/18342
Conference fees (covering attendance, buffet lunch and refreshments):
o Standard Rate: £75.00;
o Student Rate: £50.00.
o Note: conference fees do not apply to speakers
Background and rationale
In February 2015 the Commission published its Green Paper on Capital Markets Union (CMU) and an
Action Plan will follow later in 2015. The consultation period ends in May, so June/July is a good time
to take stock.
In terms of its intentions for market structure, CMU represents mimicry of the US, where capital
markets rather than banking provide significant investment into medium size enterprises. (There are
question marks around smaller enterprises.)
In terms of the architecture of the European Union, CMU represents a return to the single market
and community model of all 28 EU member states, rather than the ‘advance guard’ of Eurozone
Banking Union and crisis management.
In legal and institutional terms, CMU opens up questions on many fronts. For example:
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Questions about regulatory ‘recalibration’: CMU is “not … a big bonfire of existing
regulations in the name of growth”, as Commissioner Jonathan Hill has cautioned the
markets, but it does involve review and possible fine-tuning of legislation.
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Questions about governance and subsidiarity: possible strengthening of the European
Securities Markets Authority; role of the European Parliament vis-à-vis democratic
legitimacy; scrutiny by national parliaments.
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Questions about market conduct, where there has been a blizzard of legislation and
pronouncements, yet conduct issues remains highly sensitive (including in the contexts of
public and private investment, securitisation, and high leverage in the European Fund for
Strategic Investment ).
The conference at IALS will explore these themes.
For academic issues, the contact is nicholas.dorn@sas.ac.uk.
For organisational and attendance issues, the contact is Belinda.Crothers@sas.ac.uk