The topic which dominated the seminar was the idea of a united European clearing environment and whether this would enable the continent to compete more effectively with the US - one of the main barriers to this being the need to clear across borders. Volker Potthoff, md banking and custody services for Clearstream, introduced the issue, saying, "Trading is pretty efficient [but the] regulatory issues now surround clearing and settlement. Europe is ahead of the US in terms of trading but not clearing."
RegulationThe European regulatory environment must be compared with the situation in the US, where there is just one jurisdiction and only two major regulatory bodies covering derivatives, arguably an easier setup in which effectively to clear business. Kim Taylor, md and president of clearing at Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), told FO Week that the situation in the US is largely "friendly." However, turf wars between Commodity Futures Trading...