By Udeme Ekwere

Tuesday, 15 Feb 2011

The African Middle East Regional Committee has called for regulatory cooperation among capital markets in the region.

In a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday, the Chairperson, AMERC, Ms. Arunma Oteh, was quoted as saying this at the 26th AMERC Conference.

According to her, this collaboration is important to move markets forward, especially in the aftermath of the recent global crisis witnessed by countries.

She said, “You will agree with me that there is no better time for effective regulatory cooperation than now, having just emerged from the global financial crisis. The world has become a truly global village, thereby making the issue of cooperation absolutely inevitable.

“While we recognise the fact that effective supervision in today’s global environment requires that regulators be well equipped with the necessary enforcement tools, emphasis is also being placed on regulatory cooperation.

She added that such a cooperation was critical to help ensure the efficient regulation, particularly of globally active entities.

“This is why I encourage all of us to strive towards attaining IOSCO’s Appendix ‘A’ Signatory which has a deadline of December 31, 2012. Bilateral supervisory arrangements should also be explored in addition to the regional Memoranda of Understanding, which our colleagues from the Dubai Financial Services Authority have earlier talked about,” she stated.

Oteh added that the regulatory cooperation would bring about clear goals, including increase in market stability.

Explaining further, she said, “As events of the past few years have shown, financial stresses can quickly spread across national borders. Global financial stability is, therefore, a critical shared goal that should engage the attention of all players.

“Also, this regulatory cooperation will essentially reduce opportunities for cross-border regulatory arbitrage, while promoting financial stability.”

According to her, a clear understanding of home and host country responsibilities and adequate flows of information and analysis of their operations will be made possible through such collaborations.

“The desire to exchange information in an effort to identify potential sources of financial instability and to take action to help mitigate the buildup of risks in international financial markets, particularly those potentially posing systemic risks, should be one of our goals in promoting this,” she added.

Source: Punch