On 20 and 21 June, the Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL) hosted an international conference on “Harmonisation of administrative sanctions and procedures in European Union financial markets law: towards a European model”. This conference brought together world-renown academics, experts, judges and financial market supervisors from Europe and North America. This research project analyses the administrative sanctions in several European States and beyond for misrepresentation by listed companies and whether the regime ensures credible deterrence and protection of investors. Such misrepresentations inflict serious damages to investors. They do not contribute to building a large and vibrant European single financial market, as recently advocated by the Letta Report, comparable to the United States. Efficient and consistent enforcement is key to strong capital markets. The event underlined the importance of sanctions for integrity and societal accountability.
This research was started by Professor Pierre-Henri Conac when he joined the Max Planck Institute for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law Luxembourg as Max Planck Fellow. Since the 1st of January 2024, Professor Pierre-Henri Conac is Acting Director of the LCEL and Max Planck Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law Hamburg. Dr Jacek Dybinski (Ass. Prof. University of Krakow) is coordinating this international project which includes Enrico Sartori and Milena Mitrovic as doctoral students.
The following issues were examined during the two day conference:
- Supervisory convergence, supervision and enforcement of the EU capital markets law (Ms Amandine Zelenko and Prof. (em.) Eddy Wymeersch)
- Evolution and effectiveness of administrative sanctions in European capital markets law (Dr Jacek Dybinski, Prof. Tobias Tröger)
- Administrative sanctions for misrepresentation from national perspective (UK, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Spain and France) (Prof. Eilis Ferran, Dr Julia von Buttlar, Prof. Jesper Lau Hansen, Prof. Niamh Moloney, Prof. Silvia Allegrezza, Prof. Matteo Gargantini, Prof. Isabel Fernandez-Torres, Prof. Pierre-Henri Conac)
- Transatlantic and global view on securities enforcement (Prof. Marc Steinberg for the United States perspective, Prof. Stephane Rousseau for the Canadian approach and Ms Jessica Heyse, who discussed recent update to the credible deterrence report of the International Organisation of Securities Commission (IOSCO)
- Comparative practice and experiences (Prof. Michele Siri, Prof. Kern Alexander for the enforcement of Sustainability disclosure, Ass. Prof. Roy Gava, Adj. Prof. Urs Zulauf)
- Public/Private enforcement and the courts (Dr Damjan Kukovec, Prof. Howell Jackson, Prof. Marco Lamandini, Prof. Olha Cherednychenko)
The conference concluded with a roundtable with Prof. Pierre-Henri Conac, Prof. Eilis Ferran, Prof. Niamh Moloney and Ms Amandine Zelenko.
The presentations led to fruitful exchanges. Despite positive trends in several Member States, the conference revealed the need for reforms both at the European and national level to increase the effectiveness of administrative sanctions and the protection of investors. Those discussions will be taken into account in the continuation of the project.
