Financial Experts Gather for Debate on EU-US Financial System

Key Regulatory Issues Concerning the Financial Services Industry to be Debated

Brussels/London/New York April 2, 2008 ... Global law firm White & Case LLP is sponsoring the annual symposium on financial regulation held by Harvard University and the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies. The symposium, Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States, will take place April 3-5 at the Weill Center, Armonk, NY.

Topics that the symposium will discuss include: the regulation of pools of capital (private equity, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds), new principles for regulation of international financial transactions (selective recognition, EU model) and global financial stability and the impact and control of the liquidity and credit crises. Keynote speakers include Kathleen L. Casey, Commissioner, US Securities and Exchange Commission, and Pierre Delsaux, Director, European Commission.

"This symposium is very timely. In recent years legislators and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have grappled with the question of how to create a competitive regulatory system that provides a robust prudential framework and proper levels of investor protection, while avoiding imposing unnecessary burdens on firms. But in the wake of the ongoing global credit crunch and its high-profile victims in the banking sector, there is likely to be a shift in priorities. The focus on regulatory competition may have to take second place to reinforcing the systems of prudential control and supervision,” commented Alastair Sutton, White & Case partner and European Chair of the symposium’s panel on New Principles for Regulation of International Financial Transactions.

"Already we have seen the US Treasury's blueprint for a stronger regulatory structure. Similarly, the EU institutions are reviewing the need for adjustments to the capital requirements regime, enhanced transparency, improved valuation standards and greater control of credit rating agencies. This work is necessary. However, it should not be allowed to impair the work that is beginning on mutual recognition of EU and US regimes, which is perhaps the most exciting development for discussion in this forum."

Alastair Sutton is available on request for comment on the issues being addressed at the symposium and wider regulatory issues affecting the financial services industry.

About Alastair Sutton
Alastair Sutton is a member of the English bar. His practice in White & Case focuses on EU law and policy, financial services and regulation, international trade and English public law. He represents clients before the EU institutions in Brussels, the English courts and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Before joining White & Case, Sutton worked for 16 years at the European Commission, where his final position was a Director of Financial Services.

About White & Case
White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with more than 2,300 lawyers in 37 offices in 25 countries. Our clients value the breadth and depth of our US, English and local law capabilities and rely on us for their complex cross-border commercial and financial transactions and for international arbitration and litigation. Whether in established or emerging markets, the hallmark of White & Case is our complete dedication to the business priorities and legal needs of our clients.

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