He urged (Reuters) -Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Europe to reconsider his “extensive” regulatory requirements through an opinion piece published in the French newspaper Les Echos on Tuesday, as they put an unwanted burden on companies.
“Europe continues to be an extravagant in terms of the extensive, duplicate and costly obligations-which it sets on companies,” wrote the head of the world's second-largest investment bank, as he designed to convene a table meeting in Paris this week.
The region's financial system – often seen as a barrier to investment – has been criticized for its regulations at a national level, overlaps reporting obligations and a slow increase on capital markets and banking union reforms.
Companies, analysts and investors have argued that the rules raise costs, complicate cross -border activity and put the block at a disadvantage to the US and other major economies.
Solomon said one of the EU's biggest challenges is that individual countries can give a veto reforms to protect narrow national interests, dynamics that he argued that it has consistently weakened the economic, financial and geopolitical power of the block.
“Reducing or eliminating unknown and ineffective structures and processes will send a high message that the EU focuses on efficiency, outcomes and economic growth,” Solomon said in his opinion piece.
His comments come as initial public offerings in Europe track the United States due to weaker valuations and inconsistent investor demand.
“Member States need to play their part in building long -term capital pools needed to channel funding more forcefully to public and private markets – where much of the economic activity in Europe is now taking place,” Solomon wrote.
In the first quarter, Goldman won the highest fees from advising clients on bargains in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, according to data from Dealogic.
It was alternate by revenue earned in the region's overall investment banking league tables. Goldman's London office, its largest in Europe, is the headquarters of its international operations.
(Reported by Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar in New York; edited by Arun Koyur)