Once again this year, AMAFI organised a series of meetings in Washington on behalf of the European Forum of Securities Associations (EFSA). Meetings were held with various US and international financial institutions and authorities, including the US Treasury, Congress, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Federal Reserve.

This year’s EFSA delegation included the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the Swedish Securities Dealers Association (SSDA), BWF, which speaks for the German brokerage industry, and AMAFI, represented by Pierre de Lauzun and Véronique Donnadieu.

With the new Republican administration in the process of being set up, this trip was an opportunity to clarify some of the factors underpinning developments in the United States, including the possible Dodd-Frank Act review. While Brexit was discussed, its attendant challenges are primarily viewed as European issues that will need to be handled without extraterritorial spillover. Accordingly, considerable attention was paid to the prospect of a potential review of equivalence agreements for central counterparties and the European framework for relations with third countries. Talking partners also spontaneously flagged MiFID II research provisions and their extraterritorial effects as an area of concern, and participants generally reaffirmed their resolve to keep the dialogue going and maintain transatlantic cooperation.