This article appears courtesey of Institutional Investor
Source: Compliance Reporter
S.K.
International regulators on Thursday said they need to work harder to cooperate on cross-border enforcement and regulatory oversight. In particular information sharing and coordination of enforcement investigations were highlighted as essential. Roel Campos, commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, said, for example, International Organization of Securities Commissions standards on corporate governance oversight are a good step that international regulators should embrace.
At an International Organization of Securities Commissions conference in Frankfurt, Germany, regulators said IOSCO's memorandum of understanding that lifts information-sharing restrictions could aid enforcement. "Enforcement is the bedrock of market integrity," said Sharon Brown-Hruska, commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Enforcement cooperation should be regulators' top priority as markets globalize because investors need reassurance that firms have to be accountable wherever they are, Brown-Hruska said.
The collapse of Italian dairy giant Parmalat is a good example, said Campos. Parmalat was probably "the largest and most brazen fraud the world has ever seen," said Campos. He said international standards that could have exposed the fraud have been implemented inconsistently, meaning global oversight of Parmalat's trading and finances was patchy. Consistent implementation will make cooperation between regulators easier and will improve the likelihood of successful enforcement, he noted.