Filling Gaps in European Union Securities Law: Contractually Organized Supervision & the College of Euronext Regulators

Abstract:     
This paper analyzes the "contractually organized" supervisory mechanism embodied in the Memorandum of Understanding on the Supervision, Regulation, and Oversight of the Euronext Group ("Euronext Regulatory MOU"). The paper describes how the Euronext Regulatory MOU responded to the demands of the increasingly consolidated securities markets in Europe and the lack of harmonized trading markets rules among Euronext jurisdictions. The paper goes on to compare the Euronext Regulatory MOU with other regulatory MOUs, such as those of the U.S. SEC, and evaluates the extent to which the Euronext Regulatory MOU forms part of the corpus of E.U. "soft" law on the harmonization of E.U. member state laws.

This paper concludes that the Euronext Regulatory MOU differs substantially from the MOUs of the U.S. SEC specifically because the Euronext Regulatory MOU operates against the backdrop of regulatory harmonization in the E.U. internal market. In light of the merger of the NYSE and Euronext - and in light of joint SEC-E.U. efforts to cooperate in the regulation of the transatlantic exchange - it is increasingly important to understand the scope of such MOUs and the differences between them. Lastly, the paper provides recommendations on measures that E.U. member state regulatory authorities might take to ensure the continued vitality of the harmonization framework of the Euronext Regulatory MOU.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 64

Keywords: memorandum of understanding, european union securities law, contractually organized supervision, NYSE Euronext, harmonization, MiFID

JEL Classification: G15, F36, N20

Accepted Paper Series