On Wednesday 10th February I presented my draft report on the creation of a new European supervisory authority for the insurance and occupational pensions industries.

My report was presented alongside similar reports to create authorities for the banking and securities and markets sectors, produced by rapporteurs from the European People’s Party and the Greens. In parallel the rapporteur from the European liberal group presented her draft report on the creation of a European Systemic Risk Board to monitor the potential for macro-economic risks in the European economy.

The four new bodies that will be created will be essential to help monitor the development of potential risks in the European financial system, and take action to prevent them from becoming full-blown crises. In the event that a crisis occurs, the new authorities – it is hoped – will allow for better communication and coordination of responses between national authorities.

While there was some divergence in the exact role and powers to be granted to the new authorities between the rapporteurs, the overall direction of what we want to see achieved is the same: a consolidated approach to the supervision of systemically important financial institutions within the European Union, and the adoption of a single rulebook for financial institutions in all EU Member States. This will allow for greater integration of financial services in the EU, and a more coherent regulatory approach.

Our draft reports will now be considered by other MEPs in the ECON Committee, who will be able to table their own amendments. We hope to have the reports agreed with the rest of Parliament and the Council of Ministers over the summer, so that the new authorities can be up and running by the start of 2011.

At the end of January I submitted 18 amendments to the European Commission’s proposals for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. I am informed that the number of amendments put down by MEPs will be a European Parliament record, with around 1,230 amendments tabled, and the number rising as the secretariat go through the tabled amendments and try to make sense of them.

My amendments focused on four main areas: 1) ensuring that investment trusts, which have operated for over 100 years and do not present systemic risk, are not needlessly regulated out of existence by the new law; 2) that European fund managers are not prevented from providing services outside of the EU; 3) that there are extra protections for investors by clarifying the split between depositories and fund managers; and 4) developing the concept of proportionality so that smaller funds are not overly burdened by red-tape and restrictions.

The ECON committee will begin the debate over which amendments will be included in the final parliamentary report with the rapporteur Jean-Paul Gauzès (pictured above) on 23rd February. With so many amendments to discuss, it could be a long process.