EU close to deal on curbing speculative trading

"We are in the home straight," Internal Markets Commissioner Barnier told reporters at an economic forum in Cernobbio, Italy, yesterday.

"I am hopeful that in the coming weeks we will get an agreement on this regulation of hedge funds and private equity, which on certain days account for half the trading on the markets," he added.

He hoped that the European Parliament and the European Council, which comprises the leaders of member states and the top European Commission officials, would be able to finish the job after a breakthrough last week.

Barnier announced on Thursday that EU states, the European Commission and European lawmakers had reached a deal in principle to establish three agencies to oversee banks, insurers and the markets.

This is subject to the approval of EU finance ministers, who meet in Brussels on Tuesday and the European Parliament later this month.

"A lot of work has been done," said Barnier, although there were still a few sticking points, such as how to treat countries outside the EU region.

Europe is lagging behind the United States in efforts to regulate the financial sector as President Barack Obama signed into law in July the most sweeping reform of Wall Street since the 1930s.

In May, the EU agreed new curbs on the trillion-dollar hedge fund industry despite stiff opposition from Britain, home to 80 percent of Europe's hedge fund industry.

Germany and the Netherlands in particular have led the charge against the trading, which has been blamed for speculative attacks, in particular on currencies, that have led to sharp drops in the markets.

Another issue had been their lack of transparency and what critics see as their willingness to take financial risks with large sums of money in the search for short-term gains.

Hedge funds lost some of their lustre during the economic downturn, but still handled between US$1.2 trillion and US$1.3 trillion  worldwide in 2009.