BRUSSELS, 25 April 2019 – The European Banking Federation has responded to a European Commission consultation on financial regulatory cooperation between the European Union and the United States. Click here for the original call by DG Trade.

Key points:

◆ Financial regulatory cooperation: the EBF believes that the existing framework for EU-U.S. financial regulatory cooperation, the EU-U.S. Financial Regulatory Forum (the Forum), while important and improved in comparison to its predecessor (the Financial Markets Regulatory Dialog), could be further enhanced. We believe that dialogue between regulators, while crucial, should be complemented by a binding obligation to act jointly towards uniform implementation of internationally agreed standards, leading to globally integrated, safer and more resilient financial markets.

◆ Data flows: as the free movement of data is a vital component of the modern economy and international trade, further steps should be taken in order to ensure legal certainty with regards to transatlantic data flows. The EU/U.S. trade agreement represents a perfect opportunity to provide certainty for market participants that flow of data will not be hampered.

◆ Cybersecurity: the EU and the U.S. share key priorities in cybersecurity, such as protecting critical infrastructures and developing cyber protection and resilience measures. Therefore, it is paramount that they develop a closer cooperation on these issues.

EBF advisers: Alexandra Maniati, Blazej Blasikiewicz, Iliana Koutoulakou, Sergio Tringali