Reuters writes "Bank-style regulation offered as temporary fix for money market funds". The article says, "Bank-style regulation of money market funds (MMFs) has been proposed as a temporary compromise as draft European Union rules for the trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) sector face the prospect of being blocked for a second time by European lawmakers. The rules proposed by the European Commission in Sept. 2013 aim to increase transparency and stability for MMFs, which are used by companies as an interest-earning cash deposit facility, but they have created deep splits among European Parliament members.... Lawmakers on the left want a tough regime including a fixed percentage of total capital being set aside to maintain stability, while parties on the right say that such measures would kill about half of Europe's MMF sector, thereby robbing the region's flagging economy of much-needed funds. The divisions raise doubts that consensus can be found before the European Parliament's economic affairs committee votes on the draft law for a second time next month, with a full parliamentary vote scheduled for March. The doubts prompted the European Commission, which often helps to broker deals on divisive rules, to suggest the compromise while lawmakers wrangle over the 800 amendments tabled so far." Reuters quotes Tilman Lueder, a "senior commission official dealing in investment funds policy," "We are slightly afraid that we are in need of a more immediate solution." But the piece creates confusion (since bank regulations would move away from compromise) by adding, "On balance, we see a lot of merit in some of the proposals to apply bank-like regulation (as an interim measure)."
