12th Annual QED Conference on Cross-border regulation of financial services

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Discussion Point

What priority areas should the new Commission focus on when it comes to cross-border financial regulation?
In an increasingly globalized environment, how can we design regulations that are both robust and effective, while accommodating national regulatory distinctions?
What are the essential components required to establish a regulatory framework that builds and maintains trust?
Given that equivalence often relies on reciprocal actions from third countries, what actionable strategies can improve long-term EU-third country cooperation?
What is the future for internation standards?
What international dimensions impact financial stability within the non-banking sector, and what measures should be implemented to address them?
How can the Capital Markets Union (CMU) and Banking Union collectively contribute to strengthening the EU’s position on the global financial stage?
Savings and Investment Union: How can third-country partners and institutions contribute to its success?
What implications could the new Trump administration have for EU-UScooperation in field of financial services regulation, and how should the EU respond?

Speakers

Moderator:
Rebecca Christie

Senior Fellow, Bruegel

Rebecca Christie is a senior fellow at Bruegel, the Brussels-based economic policy think tank. She writes and speaks publicly about EU politics, financial regulation, tax and climate finance issues. Previously, she was the lead author on "Safeguarding the Euro in Times of Crisis", the official history of the European Stability Mechanism, and worked for more than 20 years as an economics and politics correspondent for Bloomberg News, Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

Piotr Plizga

Deputy Head of Unit, Policy definition & coordination, DG FISMA, European Commission

Biography coming soon.

Roxana de Carvalho

Head of Governance and External Affairs, ESMA

Roxana de Carvalho is the Head of Governance and External Affairs Department at the European Securities Markets Authority. ESMA is an independent EU authority that ensures the integrity, transparency, efficiency and orderly functioning of securities markets, as well as enhancing investor protection. Roxana’s role covers strategic aspects and transversal projects related to capital markets, support to ESMA governing bodies, coordination of relations with the EU institutions and ESMA’s relationships with the private sector, consumer representatives and market participants. Before 2019, Roxana led ESMA policy and supervisory convergence work in corporate reporting, corporate finance, credit rating agencies, securitisation and sustainable finance. Before joining ESMA in 2010, Roxana worked for 10 years in consulting, last position as Senior Manager in Global Capital Markets Department with PricewaterhouseCoopers France, where she was involved in IPOs and regulatory compliance matters. She holds a degree in Finance.

Nick Collier

Managing Director, Brussels Office, City of London Corporation

Nick Collier joined the City of London Corporation as its new Managing Director of the Brussels office in March 2019. He was previously Global Head of Government Relations at Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) and before that worked at a range of organisations in the financial services sector, including Morgan Stanley and the Bank of England and, until recently, served as Chair of TheCityUK’s Public Affairs Group as well as Deputy Chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group. Nick is chair of diplomatic engagement at the International Business and Diplomatic Exchange. He holds a MSC in Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics and a BA from Oxford.

Esther Widmer

Managing Director，Swiss Finance Council

Esther Widmer has been Managing Director of the Swiss Finance Council since 1 January 2021. She was previously the Financial Services Attachée at the Mission of Switzerland to the European Union since 2016. In this capacity, she has been responsible for monitoring and analysing the developments of EU financial market policy and regulation with regard to the possible impact on Switzerland and related advocacy work. Before joining the Mission she was Deputy Head of Regulation at FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. In this role, she was working on various national financial market regulation projects and also Head of FINMA’s EU desk. During her time at FINMA she was seconded to the European Commission as a National Expert for five months in 2015 where she was able to work on EU financial services regulation on the side of the EU Institutions. Esther Widmer had joined FINMA after several years of experience as an Attorney specialised in Banking and Finance. She is admitted to the bar in Switzerland and holds a PhD in law.

Michalis Sotiropoulos

Head of Government Relations, EMEA, DTCC

Michalis heads Government Relations in Europe for the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation - DTCC. He is responsible for DTCC’s policy and regulatory strategy in EMEA and has been running the DTCC’s Brussels office since 2011. Michalis represents the firm before policymakers, supervisors and industry, having the oversight of DTCC’s overall policy and regulatory activity on capital markets, clearing and settlement, trade reporting, operational resilience and data flows. He is a thought leader in European capital markets and a recognized expert on clearing and new financial technologies. Michalis is an occasional Visiting Lecturer in several European Universities and is fluent in English, French and Greek. Prior to this, Michalis has worked for a top tier policy advisory in Brussels, a couple of political think tanks and the European Commission. A Greek and Belgian national, Michalis has academic degrees in international politics and political economy from UK and Greek universities. In his free time, he enjoys playing and composing music.

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