Access to EU Financial Markets: Equivalence as a New Approach

Abstract

Abstract The first chapter begins with the critical observation that financial markets law is highly fragmented, which stands in striking tension with the reality of globalized financial markets. The author then presents the different options for financial service providers to access the European financial market. He points out that each of these ways is connected to decisive disadvantages. In particular, European rules are often applied extraterritorially, and third country financial service providers are forced to move to the EU (‘forced territoriality’), leading to legal market fragmentation. In the author’s view, the new approach of equivalence is one solution to this problem. The first chapter discusses the historical roots of equivalence, introduces the different regimes by setting out the areas of financial law covered by equivalence and examines the procedure for obtaining equivalence.