The Bank welcomes this initiative as an important opportunity to carry out a stocktake in advance of the scheduled reviews of EU legislation. The global financial crisis revealed serious flaws in the regulatory framework at global and EU level and led to reforms which have made the European financial sector and economy considerably more resilient to future crises. The Bank strongly supports a regulatory framework that delivers a high degree of resilience and protects financial stability, which is a pre-condition for economic growth.
However, given the urgency, scale and inter-linked nature of post-crisis reforms, it is to be expected that there may be places where adjustment is appropriate, where reforms may not be working as intended, or where there may be conflicts between different elements of the framework. We share Lord Hill’s view that the stocktake should not lead to a weakening of the overall legislative framework. Where there are sensible adjustments to be made, such as in the case of securitisation, the Bank will support them.
The Commission’s deadline for responses to this Call for Evidence was 30 January 2016. We expect the Commission to publish its main findings by mid 2016.
Cover note to Bank of England response