ZURICH (Reuters) – International banks need comprehensive rules and regulations to operate more smoothly across the European Union, UBS Chairman Axel Weber said at an event on Tuesday.
“They need a cross-border framework for action, they need an EU-wide regulatory framework, and they don’t need this existing patchwork of nationally different regulations,” Weber said during the event hosted by Germany’s financial news provider WM Gruppe.
Calling for an increase in the regulatory oversight provided by the European Central Bank, Weber said the EU must implement a so-called “freedom of financial services” providing pan-European access along the lines of the freedom of movement rule that allows individuals to cross borders across many European countries.
Banks doing business across Europe should be regulated differently than local providers, the Swiss bank manager said, pointing to the Swiss model which differentiates between lighter rules for small and regional banks and a different package for larger and international ones.
(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, editing by John Miller and Jason Neely)
