Regulatory Convergence in EU Securities Regulation

EU securities regulation has embarked on an unprecedented movement towards regulatory convergence, which is seen as necessary to facilitate a single capital market. The relevant new Directives generally provide for comprehensive coverage of regulatory standards, as distinct from the old approach of minimum harmonization. The rationale is that, in order to encourage freedom of movement for issuers, intermediaries and investors, the EU needs to provide a level playing field with a sufficiently robust regulatory regime that is sufficiently comforting to investors. The pursuit seems to envisage a level of similarity in securities regulation in all EU Member States that approximates to uniformity. However, to what extent Member States’ laws should achieve uniformity or near-uniformity is not clearly defined.