European financial regulatory reform has moved no more quickly than in the U.S. in 2013, and with the need to reach consensus between 28 member states, with often very different interests, there is little chance that the pace will pick up much in 2014, especially with European Parliament elections due for May. The following will give a taste of what to expect in 2014 in the banking, securities, derivatives and structured products sectors.

EU Bank Structural Reform Proposals -

In January 2012, the European Commission announced its intention to establish a high-level expert group to consider reform to the structural aspects of the European banking sector. The core recommendation of the resulting Liikanen report, published in October 2012, was the structural separation of the “socially useful” activities of a bank, such as deposit-taking, household lending and lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, from its “riskier” proprietary trading activities. The proposed reforms are intended to reduce the probability and impact of banks’ failure and to ensure, in the event of such failure, the continuation of economically essential services and the protection of retail consumers.