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The rules that regulate the market conduct of traders and the conduct of the business of investment intermediaries in the context of financial markets have not been comprehensively harmonised in the EU. As a result, cross‐border trading in financial products and provision of other financial services is regulated by largely asymmetrical national rules. Host state regulators have remained responsible for the supervision of the compliance of banks and investment firms with national rules of conduct when they engage in the cross‐border provision of banking and investment services. However, the advent of both the EMU and global trends in the financial services industry have transformed the market landscape. The regulatory challenges that recent market developments pose require a more efficient supervisory regime and a harmonised regulatory environment. These points were focal in the Commission's recent Communication, entitled ‘Action Plan for Financial Markets’. This article examines the current regulatory framework in the area of market conduct and conduct of business in the EU. It argues, with the aid of economic analysis, for the harmonisation of rules of market conduct and for the further harmonisation of conduct of business rules at retail investor level. The harmonisation of conduct of business rules goes beyond the Commission's plans and might raise issues of Community competence. However, such harmonisation is dictated by the challenges of investor protection that changing market conditions create. Also, the transaction costs associated with indirect fragmentation inhibit the growth of cross‐border trade in this area.
