The European Commission (Commission) has published a staff working document which provides an assessment of EU equivalence decisions in financial services policy. The staff working document:
- provides a factual overview of third-country provisions in EU financial services legislation;
- examines the current legal framework and interactions with supervisory work within the EU and with international counterparts;
- explains the process that culminates in a Commission equivalence determination; and
- takes stock of the Commission’s experience with the equivalence framework.
The staff working document states that the overall experience with equivalence as a mechanism to deal with cross-border regulatory issues may be considered as “broadly satisfactory”. The staff working document also states that there are a few areas that require further attention including that the existing equivalence provisions are not always coherent as to the need to assess both the regulatory and supervisory framework.
Annex 1 of the staff working document provides an overview of existing EU equivalence provisions and the countries that the Commission have determined to be equivalent.
View European Commission assessment of EU equivalence decisions in financial services policy, 27 February 2017
