Commentary on A Blueprint for Cross-Border Access to U.S. Investors: A New International Framework

摘要

In the article by Ethiopis Tafara and Robert Peterson, the authors propose a framework to apply to foreign financial services providers accessing the U.S. capital market (the "Blueprint"). Rather than requiring foreign stock exchanges and foreign broker-dealers to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), as is currently the case, the Blueprint instead recommends "a system of substituted compliance with SEC regulations. I appreciate the invitation to provide a commentary on the Blueprint, which comes at such a critical juncture in time. In this commentary, I discuss the global factors and recent developments that are exerting, and will continue to exert, inevitable pressure on securities regulators to open up cross-border access in financial services. In commenting on the Blueprint, I suggest the need for a framework and associated criteria to aid in assessing such a framework. Alternative approaches are outlined and discussed, including a description of the Canada-U.S. Multijurisdictional Disclosure System ("MJDS"), the EU system, and a recent proposal by the Toronto Stock Exchange Group ("TSX Group").