In a three-hour appearance Wednesday, Maria Luís Albuquerque rejected calls to cut insurance laws to boost the economy, while dismissing conflict-of-interest fears stemming from her own career in the private sector.
ADVERTISINGUSA must implement post-crisis banking rulesdespite fears that the incoming Trump administration could cut regulatory protections, Portugal’s pick to be EU Financial Services Commissioner said at a hearing in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
The former finance minister Maria Luis Albuquerquewho needs approval from lawmakers to become a European commissioner, sidestepped concerns about conflicts of interest in her private sector career, and appeared to reject a call from Mario Draghi aimed at boosting competitiveness through company investment. insurance.
“I would like to urge our international partners to also apply the appropriate framework,” Albuquerque said, adding: “I am very aware of the need to preserve financial stability; “I wouldn’t defend a race to the bottom.”
The MEP Jonas Fernandez (Spain/Socialists and Democrats), economic spokesperson for Parliament’s second-largest group, had questioned how to protect Europe against the negative impact of a future US banking regulation agenda, in comments made as it became clear that the former president Donald Trump had been re-elected for a second term.
Trump and the global pact
The EU has already had to delay measures designed to protect banks from the risk of market volatility across the financial system, known as the fundamental trading book review, as a similar setback in the US meant banks that compete directly could be operating under very different regulations. This It has also raised more general fears of financial protections being dismantled, particularly because Trump may not hold up his end of the deal in enforcing international standards set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.
Fernández accused Alburquerque of having gone “straight through a revolving door” when he left the government to work at Arrow Global, a company specializing in the purchase of sour loans from banks, but argued that the issue had been settled at the time, when She was a Portuguese deputy. “This point was evaluated by the ethics commission of the Portuguese Parliament and (it) concluded that there was no conflict of interest or incompatibility (…) that issue was appropriately addressed where it should have been addressed,” Albuquerque said.
“The job of an independent, non-executive director is exactly a role that is probably closer to the role of a regulator than that of an executive within the same company,” he added, referring to the role he has played in several organizations in the sector. private, including, until August, Morgan Stanley.
Overall, Albuquerque proposed few new measuress during the three hours that his appearance lasted. Instead, he said he would focus on enforcement of existing laws, as companies complain that a wave of legislation is slowing growth.
Boost to competitiveness
After a few years in which Brussels has enacted a multitude of regulations on issues such as sustainable finance and financial technology, it is likely that the financial sector will welcome its approach, but Albuquerque will also appeared to reject requests to cut obligations existing to help the economy.
In a recent and historic report on European competitiveness, Draghiformerly president of the European Central Bank and prime minister of Italy, advocated cut capital requirements for insurers and pension funds to allow them to invest in innovative companies.
“We have just reviewed Solvency 2,” he said of a major reform of the insurance law agreed in the last term and formalized by the economy ministers on Tuesday, after being questioned on the subject by German MEP Markus Ferber, the Party’s economic coordinator. European Popular Party in the European Parliament. “Still there is a lot of work to do so that this agreement can be implemented on the ground, so I would give it some time to see if it works,” he added.
The hearings of the 26 candidates for European commissioner will continue until November 12, and MEPs have already expressed their concern about the election of the Swedish conservative Jessica Roswall to lead the European Green Deal. If Parliament gives its approval, Albuquerque could replace the Irish Mairead McGuinness as head of EU financial services in a matter of weeks.
