The Good, the Bad and the Unfinished, APCIMS' study on the final stages of the EU's Financial Services Action Plan, shows that the EU now needs to focus on achieving the same end results in all member states, not imposing identical rules.
Launching the document at the Complinet compliance conference in London today, APCIMS Chief Executive Angela Knight said:
"Harmonisation is about achieving the same end results, not total uniformity. The EU's member states have widely differing investment cultures and legal frameworks, so it is virtually impossible for them to undertake every practice in exactly the same way.
"This year the industry effort moves from the European Commission and Parliament to CESR, the rulemaking body, and to implementation in the UK. If the rulemakers and home state regulators attempt to make every country operate in exactly the same way, the end results will be regulatory overload, increased trading costs and a much higher cost to the individual who wants to invest and save."
