BRUSSELS – Hedge fund and private equity fund managers heaved a huge sigh of relief in mid-March following the surprise decision by Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister, to pull the highly contentious draft law regulating alternative investment fund managers from the agenda of European finance ministers meeting in Brussels. As current holder of the six-monthly rotating EU presidency, Spain chairs the meetings and leads negotiations.

BASEL – The Financial Stability Board (FSB), the body charged with coordinating international financial regulation, has launched an initiative to encourage stronger adherence to international financial standards by all countries. Eventually, this will involve evaluation, monitoring and peer reviews of the FSB’s 24 member countries. These countries, the FSB says, should lead by example.

WASHINGTON – US trade associations are strongly opposing proposals by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to unilaterally introduce new regulations on banks issuing securitised credit products. The associations’ stance comes in responses to a decision at the FDIC’s December 15 board meeting to issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), seeking public comment on the agency’s plans for dealing with securitisations when an issuing bank fails in future.

LONDON – The Financial Services Authority (FSA), Britain’s financial watchdog, has signalled its backing for EU moves to increase post-trade transparency in the corporate bond market as long as the negative effects on liquidity are minimised. This issue is set to receive renewed attention later this year when the European Commission reviews the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), the far-reaching law that came into effect in November 2007, aimed at protecting investors and increasing competition in EU financial services.

LONDON – British banks’ transition to a new, post-crisis global capital regime will need to be managed gradually over several years, Britain's financial services watchdog says in its latest assessment of the outlook for financial risk.

BRUSSELS/NEW YORK – Pressure on the private credit derivatives markets ratcheted up sharply on both sides of the Atlantic in March as political leaders and regulators demanded tougher and faster reforms. In Europe, concern about alleged de-stabilising speculation against Greek sovereign bonds prompted the French and German governments to call for an investigation.

LONDON – Market abuse risk in the European Union has increased substantially since the 2007 introduction of the EU’s landmark MiFID financial markets law which legalised cross-border trading but left market surveillance to national authorities, according to a new research group.

BASEL – Bank directors and senior management must have a clear understanding of their firms’ operational structure and risk if the deficiencies in bank corporate governance made apparent by the financial crisis aren’t to re-occur, global banking regulators have indicated.

DUBLIN – The most fundamental problem with the so-called Volcker rule lies in the fact that its complete prohibition of certain activities “is a very far-reaching market intervention,” according to German central bank chief Axel Weber.

BASEL – Bank of France governor Christian Noyer has been elected as the new chairman of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for a three-year period from March 7 2010.