However, on Tuesday she said: “Central clearing parties play an important role in mitigating risk in the financial system.
“The Commission plans to come forward with measures to reduce our excessive dependence on systemic third-country clearinghouses and to improve the attractiveness of EU-based clearing houses.”
Pauline Ashall, a partner at Linklaters, said the new measures proposed by the bloc are “mostly stick rather than carrot”.
The more aggressive tone from Brussels comes after an effort by Emmanuel Macron, the French President, to woo bankers away from London in a bid to bolster Paris.
Last week, Clement Beaune, France’s minister of European affairs, said a “clear signal” must be given to financiers so that clearing moves from the UK to the continent.
Michael McKee, a partner at law firm DLA Piper, said: “The EU is determined to be self-sufficient in key areas like clearing and the current French Presidency of the EU wants ‘a more sovereign Europe’ and ‘a new European model for growth’.
“Sovereignty with regard to clearing is part of that vision. However, the UK is likely to remain the dominant clearer of non-EU financial instruments within Europe.”
In September, the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned that Brussels bureaucrats risked severely damaging the financial system if they pressed ahead with a protectionist power grab.
Last year, the EU ordered major banks to explain why they were not shifting lucrative euro derivative trading activity out of Britain.
The EU consultation will take four weeks to gather evidence and is seeking views on possible “negative and positive” incentives for firms, such as imposing targets on customers to cut their use of specific UK clearing houses.
