Harmonization of U.S.-EU securities regulation: The case for a single European securities regulator

In March 2001, the European Council in Stockholm announced a bold, new initiative to force the integration of the European Union's (EU) financial markets into a single European securities market. At first glance, the EU project to create a single European securities market through the centralization of regulatory authority appears only as a European affair. But the reason for such a project is anything but domestic. It originated from an envy of the US and a desire to emulate the success of the US capital markets. The EU still has a choice as to how it can achieve the benefits of financial integration: one path leads toward a single securities regulator, promulgating mandatory rules; and the alternative path leads to a system of regulatory competition between member states.