Benchmarks: Agreement Reached On ECON Committee

On March 31, the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) adopted its report on benchmarks. Key issues include: The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee backed a draft EU law to make the benchmarks more trustworthy. The text aims to clean up the benchmark-setting process by curbing conflicts of interest like those that led to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rigging scandals of recent years. The setting of critical benchmarks that affect more than one country would be overseen by a "college" of supervisors, including the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and other competent authorities.

Curbing critical conflicts of interest