By Rachelle Younglai

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – All publicly traded companies should be required to give shareholders a way to influence the composition of their corporate boards, a top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official said on Tuesday.

Luis Aguilar, one of five officials who decides on federal securities rules, said companies should not be given the option to opt out of potential rules being considered by his agency.

By Jonathan Lynn

GENEVA, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Few measures have been taken to curb trade in financial services in the wake of the crisis although the volumes have dropped sharply, according to a study by the World Trade Organization.

But measures to support troubled institutions will need to be unwound carefully to avoid distorting competition, the WTO said in an restricted report to members, dated Feb. 3, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

MUMBAI, Feb 8 (Reuters) – The Indian central bank on Monday increased disclosure requirements for banks who sell securitised assets, to increase transparency for investors under the enhanced Basel II framework.

The Reserve Bank of India said banks needed to clearly state what role they had played in the securitisation of an asset, including whether they were an originator, investor, provider of credit enhancement or liquidity provider while securitising assets.

By Huw Jones

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – The world’s most influential accounting rule setter is not answerable enough to users or the public and must improve its governance further, top financial regulators said on Monday.

International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) rules are used in over 100 countries, including the European Union, with Canada, Japan and Brazil adopting them as well. The United States, however, is still mulling its position.

By Andrei Khalip

LISBON, Feb 5 (Reuters) – European policymakers scrambled on Friday to reassure markets about the stability of the 16-nation currency bloc as investors shed euro assets for a second day and Portugal backed a law that may push its swollen deficit higher.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny tried to play down a sharp fall in the euro, which hit its lowest level against the dollar since May 2009, and called talk of a euro zone breakup “absurd”.

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Commercial banks should not be allowed to establish or maintain a separate trading desk, capitalized with their own resources and unrelated to customer business, a top U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.

At a hearing to examine a White House proposal to restrict banks’ proprietary trading, Treasury Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin said banks should not be allowed to use such trading desks to speculate on the price of oil, gas or equity securities.

By Huw Jones

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Banks should not be forced to shift privately-negotiated derivatives transactions onto exchanges, Britain’s Financial Services Minister, Paul Myners, said on Tuesday.

“We do not see the need for mandating trading of standardised derivatives on organised trading platforms,” Myners told a committee of parliament’s upper chamber.

By John O’Donnell

BRUSSELS, Jan 13 (Reuters) – The European Union’s designated financial services chief has pledged to examine curbs on short-selling and extend a planned regulatory shake-up to every corner of the industry, blamed by many for the economic crisis.

Outlining his plans to push through a welter of rules that will tighten the policing of banks as well as curbing runaway borrowing, Michel Barnier said: “We need to turn the page on an era of irresponsibility.”