EU tightens rulebook for financial markets

European Union lawmakers clinched a deal to toughen the bloc’s financial-market rulebook, backing sweeping measures that will put the brakes on high-frequency trading and curb speculation in commodity derivatives.

The overhaul, which will push more activity on to regulated platforms, is designed to remedy deficiencies laid bare in the 2008 financial crisis.

The accord ends more than two years of haggling over proposals from Michel Barnier, the EU's financial services chief.

The EU's bid to revamp its market legislation, known as Mifid, is a centerpiece of the 28-nation bloc's work to implement agreements reached by the Group of 20 nations in the wake of the turmoil that followed the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. – (Bloomberg)