Financial Regulatory Forum

By Clara Ferreira-Marques
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s excessive regulatory zeal is hitting competitiveness and driving away top talent and innovative firms, as they flee a poorly devised tax regime and “spurious” legislation, one of Britain’s oldest brokerages said.

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   By Edward Taylor and Kirstin Ridley
FRANKFURT/LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Neelie Kroes’s campaign to shrink banks and launch vast asset sales has angered bankers, who accuse the firebrand European competition commissioner of kicking the industry when it’s down.Investment bankers close to some of the bailed-out lenders blame Kroes for undermining attempts to rebuild the once-lucrative industry by forcing massive, near-simultaneous asset sales, while banning acquisitions.

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By Ben Berkowitz and Gilbert Kreijger
AMSTERDAM, Oct 2 (Reuters) – The European Commission on Friday gave the Dutch government a surprise extension of time to sell portions of nationalised bank ABN AMRO, about two weeks after a sale fell apart and just three hours before what had been regarded as a firm deadline.

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By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Consumers who suffer at the hands of companies that fix prices or abuse their dominant market position could soon find it easier to launch class action lawsuits to seek compensation, according to a proposed EU directive.

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BRUSSELS, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Partially-nationalised British
bank Lloyds needs to shrink its activities in areas
where it is currently dominant to compensate for taking billions
of pounds in state aid, the European Union’s antitrust chief
said.

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By Steve Slater and Foo Yun Chee
LONDON/BRUSSELS, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Europe’s banks face a shakeout as a result of the European Commission flexing its muscles over state aid that the sector gratefully accepted to survive a financial crisis.

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By Clara Ferreira-Marques
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s largest retail bank, faces an uncertain future as the EU considers whether to force a carve-up of its current structure and the sale of its Halifax unit, analysts said.

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BRUSSELS, Sept 11 (Reuters) – European Union competition regulators are set to take a closer look at bonuses at state-aided banks, the EU’s antitrust chief said on Friday.
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