The Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON), Ms Sharon Bowles has advised that the European Parliament will not vote on the proposed draft legislation to regulate benchmarks before the European Parliament elections in May.
The draft legislation regulating benchmarks was proposed late last-year after a number of high profile multi-million euro settlements for manipulations of LIBOR, EURIBOR and TIBOR. One of the main items yet to be agreed relates to the inclusion or not of commodities indices within the remit of the draft legislation.
The current draft legislation proposes to:
- Enhance governance and controls over the benchmark setting process
- Limit and manage conflicts of interests at providers of and contributors to benchmarks
- Improve the quality of input data and methodologies, including the use of significant, accurate and representative underlying data
- Ensure adequate protection for investors and consumers through improved transparency and suitability assessments
It is expected that debate on the draft legislation to regulate benchmarks will be further postponed until the new European Commissioners are appointed in October 2014.
Contributed by Michelle McGrath
