Kandidaat-directeuren voor financiële toezichthouders krijgen groen licht van Europarlement (en)

All three candidate executive directors of the EU's new financial watchdogs were given a green light by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The committee's recommendation now needs to be confirmed by Parliament as a whole, in a vote scheduled for Thursday 24 March.

Verena Ross, candidate executive director for the European Securities and Markets Authority, was approved with 36 votes in favour, 6 against and 4 abstentions.

Carlos Montalvo, candidate for the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, received 33 votes in favour, 4 against and 7 abstentions.

Finally, Adam Farkas, candidate for the European Banking Authority, received 38 votes in favour, 4 against and 3 abstentions.

Last week the committee quizzed all three candidates, showing particular interest in how they intended to exercise their authority over national regulators and how they would develop the authorities into truly independent entities.

The executive directors are expected to wield considerable influence, particularly through their direct control over all the administrative staff of the watchdogs.