Regulatory developments in Europe 2019

2019 marks a year of change for financial regulation

Elections for a new European Parliament in May and the formation of a new Commission by November will pave the way for fresh policy ideas. Ahead of this, we anticipate a wave of activity aimed at finalising some of the outstanding items on the current policy to-do list. Preparations for a post-Brexit financial system – already well underway – will continue to influence regulatory developments in Europe.

The key themes expected to remain high on both the policy maker and investor agendas in 2019, include:

• Sustainable Finance. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations rose up the policy agenda in 2018, and are set to be a defining theme of 2019. As interest in sustainable finance grows, regulators face the challenge of building a system that works.
• Exchange Traded Funds. We discuss reforms that will benefit Europe’s ETF investors through enhanced transparency: a consolidated tape would permit end-investors a clear view of ETF pricing and trading volume; a classification of Exchange Traded Products will enable differentiation of complex, risky structures from traditional ETFs; and establishing a clear method for reporting transaction costs will bring investors better price transparency.
• Brexit. While we are entering a period of political uncertainty, BlackRock is preparing for a range of possible outcomes, including a no-deal scenario, to ensure we can continue to service our clients in both the UK an EU regardless of political developments. We focus in this paper on providing an overview of the regulatory discourse as it stands.

Download full report

About the Global Public Policy Group

As part of our responsibilities to our shareholders and clients, BlackRock advocates for public policies that we believe are in our shareholders’ and clients’ long-term best interests. We support the creation of regulatory regimes that increase financial market transparency, protect investors and facilitate responsible growth of capital markets, while preserving consumer choice and properly balancing benefits versus implementation costs.

This material is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product or to adopt any investment strategy.