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24 Int'l Fin. L. Rev. 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/intfinr24 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial As the implementation of Europe's Financial Services Action Plan moves to the fore this year, regulators in the EU can learn from the rulemaking approach of A their US counterparts. Too often, political considerations and self-interested lobbying dominate the regula- tory process in the EU. By contrast, the SEC takes a more practical approach, focusing most on factual information and analysis of the implications of new rules. The securi- ties industry may disagree with elements of US regulation. But the opportunity to assess the practical impact of changes is always welcome. The difference in culture on either side of the Atlantic is clear in the way that European companies have lobbied the SEC on deregistration. As Margaret Tahyar points out in her article (page 11), heavy media coverage will have little influence on the thinking of the SEC staff. Sending delegations to Washington to lecture regulators on how they should do their job is equally ineffective. The culture at the US regulator inclines towards measuring costs and benefits, some- thing that lawyers say is largely absent from the EU. As US companies come to grips with the demands of reporting internal controls on financial reporting under the con- troversial Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, for example, the SEC will measure the time taken and the money spent and will consider tweaking the rules if necessary when the results of that process are clear. By contrast, in Europe there is little scope for road-testing new rules. Regarding the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, for example, the industry has asked without success for a test of transparency requirements by applying them in a limited section of the market before imposing them more widely. Requests to prioritize the demands of new directives and allow banks to implement them in order of importance have also fallen on deaf ears. IFLR's cover story in this issue shows that regulatory changes will continue to domi- nate international markets over the next 12 months. On that basis, it is to be hoped that watchdogs in Asia, as well as in Europe, will heed the view of the industry and seek to follow a more systematic approach to regulation in the year ahead. IAdvier G Berlioz Berlioz & Co David Bernstein Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells Andrew M Berry Merrill Lynch Peter K Brechan Heevind Vislie Lee C Buchheit Cleary Gottleb Stees & Hamrilton Alan Cameron Blake Dawson Waldron Simon J Davies Linklaters Whitney Debevoise Arnold & Porter Robert DeLaMater Sulivnan & Cromwel _LF Nick Fastwell Linklstern Phillip Fletcher Milbank, Tweed, Had ey & McCloy David Graham UBS Ed Greene Cit group Mark Harding Barclays Kevin Ingram Clifford Chance Philip McBride Johnson Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flow Michael Kenny Watson Farley & Wi liams Stefan Krauss Hengeler Mueller Paul Kruger Clifford Chance James Leavy Well Gotsha &Manges Chris Leberne ABN AMRO Joe Longo Deutsche Bank Juhani Makinen Hannes Snellman John D Moore Goldman Sachs Herbert Morals Dewey Ballantine Enric Picanyol Cuatrecasas Graham Penn Sidley Austin Brown & Wood Thomas Reid Oavis Polk & Wardwell Philip Pillai Shook Lin & Bok Brian Salter Clayton Utz Gilles Saint Marc Gide Loyrette Noue Patricia Sindel Credit Suisse First Boston David Eric Spencer Law Offices of D E Spencer Bertil S~dermark Advokaffirnan Sbdermark Chris Sunt Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Philip Wood Allen & Overy Christian Zschocke Morgan, Lewis & Bockius William Underhill Slaughter and May www.iflrcom IFLR/January 2005 1 www.iflr.com FLR/January 2005 1

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