Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-12-Speech-3-370"

PredicateValue (sorted: default)
rdf:type
dcterms:Date
dcterms:Is Part Of
dcterms:Language
lpv:document identification number
"en.20071212.34.3-370"2
lpv:hasSubsequent
lpv:speaker
lpv:spokenAs
lpv:translated text
". Madam President, may I say to Astrid that she should not always assume that Socialist motions will be untenable. Let me begin by warmly thanking the rapporteur, Mr Klinz, for his balanced report. I must tell the Commissioner that he need not always be so wary of overloading the agenda. It is against the backdrop of the US financial and mortgage crisis that we are now dealing with the report on asset management. Not even the European Central Bank is able to assess the full extent of the damage this crisis has caused to the European financial system and to European banks. And there may – indeed there will – be more to come. The global financial market is already so closely intertwined that there was no way of protecting the Union from such speculative escapades, for which all of us must ultimately carry the can. Greedy bank executives, focused solely on shareholder value, still enjoy celebrity status, and the US rating agencies continue to do a roaring trade and to lead us up the garden path. Knee-jerk legislation, however, is never warranted. Nevertheless, there is a lot to be done in this field, and the Commission cannot leave the issue to resolve itself and let the market be. One message I wish to highlight from the report is that more information and transparency lead to more consumer protection and greater consumer security. That is a very sound starting point. Another good thing is that the report refers to hedge funds and private equity, because more and more asset managers are investing in alternative investment products. Hedge funds, open real-estate funds and other retail products should therefore be included in the UCITS III Directive – a task that still lies ahead. To my mind the very concept of asset management implies steady development, whether through investment certificates, pension funds, life assurance companies, banks or private asset management. Since 2003 we have had a directive on insider dealing and market manipulation. Its implementation has been totally inadequate. The fund industry in particular is always citing costly overregulation and refuses to extend its transparency and liability rules. What we need here, Commissioner, is a clearly structured system that provides legal certainty. I am pleased that my proposal for an improved corporate governance clause has been accepted but regret the rejection of my motion on EU supervision of financial markets. We could and probably must think a bit further in this direction too, Commissioner. It is nevertheless gratifying that a cross-party compromise was reached on the issue of guaranteed funds. When all is said and done, we should and must make every effort to ensure that speculation by asset managers is restricted and that Parliament, the Commission and the Council do not distinguish themselves by collective inertia. Commissioner, that was addressed to you. Go to it, and do it well!"@en1

Named graphs describing this resource:

1http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/English.ttl.gz
2http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/Events_and_structure.ttl.gz
3http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/rdf/spokenAs.ttl.gz

The resource appears as object in 2 triples

Context graph