By his own admission Hans Hoogervorst is liberal

By his own admission, Hans Hoogervorst is liberal. The decoration of the Office of the President of the Netherlands Authority of financial markets (AFM) attests. Two meters from his work table on the right of the window, the portrait of his political mentor, Frits Bolkestein, multi-coloured fixed visitors.

This ex-Commissioner for the internal market has written and supported the liberalisation of the services directive. In France, supporters of the "no" to the Constitutional Treaty it had booed. It was four years ago. Today, the financial crisis does not change the economic principles of Hans Hoogervorst: it approves competition and income inequality.

But, at the time of the self, it not appearing and highlights the perverse effects of some rivalries. "What are private institutions which are mainly responsible for the crisis, says the former Minister of finance in the"Echos". But they should be better monitored by regulators. This weakness of oversight is deeply linked to the rivalry between different financial markets.

"Loss of confidence".

London, Paris and Frankfurt are fighting to attract investment: cities boasting their taxation, their technological advance, their openness to the world. France, the capital has a promoter of weight: Paris Europlace. Chaired by Gérard Mestrallet, CEO of GDF Suez, the organization receives the recurring support of the authorities and brings together the fine flower of leaders and former leaders of the companies in the CAC 40 index. Among its 33 members is Michel Prada, the outgoing Chairman of the authority of des marchés financiers (AMF). In the absence of a regulator at the European level, "stock competition has contributed to weakening the supervision of the markets", said Hans Hoogervorst. Du coup, faced with the magnitude of the crisis and "the incredible loss of confidence in the financial system", the President of the AFM thinks that the strengthening of supervision at European level is essential.

An organization exists: the Committee European regulators (CESR), located in Paris, which brings together the 27 EU financial markets supervisory authorities. Its role is consultative and has no authority binding on its members. "I favour a federal system, launches Hans Hoogervorst.". The current state of things, it would be necessarily derived from CESR.

The role of the CESR

The other gendarmes of the Euronext exchanges endorse the idea of a strengthening of the powers of CESR. "We agree to give more powers to this organization," said Hein Lannoy, spokesperson of the Commission on banking, finance and des assurances (CBFA) in Belgium.

"CESR could play a true central role must receive legal recognition and real powers," said Michel Prada in an interview to the "Echos" last week.

But there are limits to this federalism. "I am not in favour of the establishment of a European regulator", says the President of the MFA. Moreover, the EU is not seriously strengthen the CESR.

The next Commission proposals should reassert the weight of local regulators. The next project of regulation of the Commission (read "Les Echos" from Monday) provides that the agencies rating, criticized these days, apply for registration with the CESR. Once registered, they will be controlled by the national supervisory authorities. "The idea is to control the agencies by 27 different regulators." "It's a little ridiculous," smiles Hans Hoogervorst.