Post-trade and the clouds over Europe

Europe has been dealing lately with all the issues around the Greek debt and the possibility of a "Grexit". While the final decision on the matter would have its significant repercussions, the uncertainty that has come with the problem in the last few months is also expected to have its own associated costs. It could also impact the long-term competitiveness of the region vis-à-vis its competitors in the US and Asia-Pacific. When we focus specifically on the capital market issues. there are several significant regulatory changes happening in the European capital markets at this point in time. EMIR, Mifid II, Basel III, T2S and CSDR are all regulations at various stages of implementation. From a post-trade point of view, several of these regulations are expected to have significant impact, especially when we talk about T2S and CSDR. However, the continuing concern over regulatory implementation in Europe is that the delay and uncertainty over when the regulations come into effect could prove costly for the region overall. An example is the delay by European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in providing the draft technical standards. Similarly, the recent decision by Monte Titoli to delay joining the T2S, at least for a few months has proven to be a setback for the project, considering it was easily the largest CSD to participate in the first phase and would have been instrumental in measuring the effectiveness and success of the implementation. There is a lot of ground that the regulators and industry are trying to cover in an economy that is still suffering from the after-shocks of the financial crisis. While trying to do everything in a hurry isn't the answer, it is important to ensure that the deadlines are kept as much as possible, otherwise on-going delays will directly impact European market's competitiveness.