Financial Regulatory Forum

By Christopher Elias,  (Westlaw Business)

Radical changes to Europe’s system of financial regulation are under way and with them a harmonisation of securities rules as Europe turns a corner on the drive to create a single European Securities and Markets Authority with more stringent disclosure requirements. But with not all European regulators striking the same note, the move for greater scrutiny and heightened disclosure expectations over short selling and shareholdings is making sluggish progress forward. (more…)

"They love a conspiracy theory on the boards," David Jones, chief market strategist at spread betting firm IG Index told UK correspondents Rosalba O'Brien and Matt Scuffham when they were reporting for "The stock, the web, the CEO and his lawyers" . It's a look at some of the shenanigans around highly speculative resource stocks when they are discussed on message boards like  ADVFN and iii. Late-night gossip and personal insults are par for the course: some suspect organised short-sellers may be behind the talk. Given the high volumes of online trading in the UK, we wonder how long it will be before regulator FSA is forced to take a closer look.

Day-trader John Douce is sceptical about the boards' impact on stock prices

The UK’s Financial Services Authority has fined the London branch of Commerzbank AG £595,000 for failing to provide accurate transaction reports to the FSA.  To view the formal notice of the fine,  click here.

  By Krista Hughes and Mark Felsenthal
   FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) – Major central banks are taking on a new role of finance police in the wake of the global financial crisis but they could find their hands more tied as a result. (more…)

   By Steve Eder and Steve Slater
   NEW YORK/LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N> said first-quarter earnings nearly doubled, and Britain’s financial regulator launched a formal probe related to civil fraud allegations against the Wall Street bank. (more…)

   LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – Britain’s financial regulator started a formal enforcement investigation into Goldman Sachs <GS.N> on Tuesday, four days after U.S. regulators filed a fraud case against Wall Street’s biggest investment bank. (more…)

   By Adrian Croft
   LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Britain’s financial watchdog to investigate U.S. bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N> after it was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators. (more…)

   LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) – Seven men charged with running an insider trading ring with information gleaned from the London printers of Swiss bank UBS AG <UBSN.VX><UBS.N> and UK brokerage Cazenove <JPM.N> will appear in a British court on Wednesday. (more…)

By Tom Bergin
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) – The UK financial watchdog’s recent moves to stamp out insider dealing focus on relatively minor abuses and big league market corruption will be eliminated only by tackling the large banks and fund managers head on. (more…)

   LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) – Britain’s financial regulator has fined and banned two former executives of Northern Rock, the troubled mortgage lender taken into state ownership two years ago, for misreporting mortgage arrears numbers. (more…)