In the shadow of the global financial crisis, the European Parliament has plunged into a wholesale overhaul of Europe’s legislation to supervise its financial markets. From banks to insurance companies to credit-rating agencies, all are in the crosshairs of a nearly unanimous call for reform.
In early October, a preliminary vote for the overhaul sailed through the European Parliament, 565-74. Parliament has ordered bureaucrats in the European Commission to return with a legislative proposal by Nov. 30 and punctuated its urgency by copying the text of its report to national governments throughout the European Union and to the European Council of Ministers. The call for the European Commission to draft legislation is unusual; normally, the Commission proposes legislation first. But lawmakers do have this opportunity, if they achieve an absolute majority in their vote.
