MEP welcomes opportunity to crack down on abusive trading in commodities - 2012-01-25

“We are introducing new rules to crack down on abusive speculation on food subsidies and to increase levels of transparency and openness in financial markets in response to calls from NGOs such as Oxfam and the World Development Movement,” said Labour Euro MP Arlene McCarthy today.  

Yesterday (Tuesday 24th January), Euro MPs began the process to introduce tougher regulation on tackling market abuse across the EU.  Arlene McCarthy, the Vice Chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, has been appointed the European Parliament’s "rapporteur" (lead legislator) and so she will be drafting the Parliament’s amendments to the Market Abuse Regulation and Directive.

“Speculation on commodity markets causes food price spikes ultimately putting the poorest people in the developing world at risk. These price spikes also put pressure on household budgets from the fuel in your petrol tank to the food in your shopping basket,” she said.

“With public confidence in markets at an all time low we need higher levels of protection against market abuse in the form of insider trading and market manipulation.”

"The crisis has brought about further market volatility which in turn has increased the opportunities for market abuse. Yesterday we heard that some regulators are putting in 600, rising up to 1000, requests for data on possible cases of market abuse from their European counterparts.”

"The evidence we have heard from experts yesterday is crucial to ensuring the EU provides an effective and workable solution to tackling market abuse.”

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