BRUSSELS, March 21 (Global Risk Regulator) -The European Parliament’s influential economic affairs committee overwhelmingly backed a draft proposal today for the Solvency II capital regime for insurers, including amendments that make the new rules less burdensome for the insurers.

EU backs quantified solvency rules for cross-border insurers, while the US doesn’t. Differences could upset Solvency II equivalence talks By David Keefe

Private sector task force fails to achieve key goal of reforms. NY Fed plans to intensify oversight and mulls new policy options By Melvyn Westlake

Proposals to introduce rating agency rotation widely opposed. European business fears impact on capital raising By Melvyn Westlake

A selection of news items generated by the American regulatory reform agenda

LONDON/PARIS/FRANKFURT – Following the political deal in the EU to regulate the huge over-the-counter derivatives market, the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have begun work on a raft of technical standards aimed at putting the agreement into practice across the bloc’s 27 member counties. This extensive exercise includes joint-ESA consideration of the risk mitigation requirements – collateral and capital levels – that will be imposed on non-standard derivative transactions not cleared through central counterparties.

WASHINGTON – America’s stock market regulator is exploring whether insurance companies can qualify for a coveted exemption from the proposed, and highly controversial, Volcker rule that would protect them from having to scale back their investments in hedge funds, Securities and Exchange Commission Mary (SEC) Schapiro said in March.

LONDON – As the regulation of shadow banking moves closer, financial firms outside the traditional banking sector are increasingly concerned to demonstrate that they should not be seen as part of the still-ill-defined group bearing the “shadow bank” label. In early March, the London-based Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), which represents many of the world’s hedge funds, produced a paper* arguing that credit hedge funds should definitely not be considered part of the shadow banking sector. The paper highlights crucial differences between the key functions of a traditional bank and those of credit hedge funds. Credit hedge funds, it says, do not take deposits, do not offer daily liquidity nor otherwise hold themselves out as guaranteeing the return of the invested principal. They manage their liquidity profiles by agreeing investor redemption terms which correspond to the liquidity profile of the underlying investments. They therefore do not engage in significant maturity transformation.

LONDON – Lack of a concrete proposal on the future funding of the organisation that sets international accounting rules is the biggest collective challenge facing the standard-setter’s oversight authorities, according to a leading accountant.

BRUSSELS – Erkki Liikanen, governor of the Bank of Finland, has been confirmed as chairman of the new ‘High-Level Expert Group’ on reforming the structure of the EU banking sector. The chairman and the other eight members of the group were formally announced by Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for internal markets, in late February.