Michael Barnier, the European commissioner overseeing financial services, has used the opportunity of speaking before an audience in London on 4 November 2011 to highlight the commission’s view on the key areas of progress in the development of European Financial Regulation and to address growing concerns that increased integration within the euro-zone will isolate or penalise EU member states who are not subscribed to the single currency.

The key areas of regulatory development referred to in the speech included:

• The proposed increase in capital and liquidity requirements in compliance with Basel III;
• The measures designed to increase transparency within hedge funds;
• The new rules regarding short selling and credit default swaps;
• The increased transparency of over the counter derivatives;
• The revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID 2) which will regulate technological developments such as high frequency trading; and
• New proposals on how to target Market Abuse.

European Commission: Press release (SPEECH/11/721) (4 November 2011).