U.S. under pressure to match EU rules on market benchmarks
By Huw Jones
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States may need tougher rules to regulate market benchmarks or risk being locked out of the European Union market, a top U.S. regulator has said.
The EU is approving extensive rules drafted by the European Commission after banks were fined billions of dollars for attempting to rig currency market and interest rate benchmarks.
They go further than the general principles on administering benchmarks agreed by global markets watchdog, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
"I share your concerns that, if adopted in its current form, the EC benchmark proposal would have adverse market consequences," Tim Massad, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told two U.S. lawmakers in a letter seen by Reuters.
The United States applies the IOSCO principles.
Massad said banks and asset managers in the EU would not be allowed to use benchmarks compiled in countries whose benchmark regime was not deemed by Brussels to be "equivalent" to the bloc's standards.
This would prohibit EU institutions from hedging using thousands of products traded on U.S. futures exchanges and swap trading platforms, Massad said.
"Because of the potential consequences on financial markets, the CFTC also stands ready to work with its counterparts in the U.S. financial regulatory sector to address this issue further," Massad told the two lawmakers.
It is the latest clash over differing regulation.
CFTC and EU officials have been trying for months to thrash out a unified approach to tougher supervision of financial derivatives without fragmenting markets.
The European Parliament and EU states are now scrutinising the draft EU law on benchmarks and at a hearing in parliament this month, Philip Tod, a European Commission official, was asked about the impact on non-EU countries.
"Third countries often follow our lead," Tod responded.
IOSCO secretary-general David Wright told the hearing that no country in the world was planning to go as far as the EU and there was need to avoid fragmenting and disrupting markets.
"We think it would be ideal if IOSCO's principles were the basis for recognising each others' benchmarks," Wright said. "If we don't do this work now, the risk is we end up with conflicts of law which is the situation we had with derivatives."
(Editing by Susan Thomas)
