Parliament approves plan to open up share trading

THE European Parliament yesterday endorsed new rules on share trading, aimed at boosting competition between banks and exchanges in the EU and giving investors more choice when buying securities.

The Investment Services Directive would allow all brokers in the EU to bypass stock exchanges by processing buy and sell orders directly with clients, a practice common in Britain and Germany. It still needs approval by member states.

Some banks argue that their competitiveness will be hampered by a requirement to disclose their bid and offer prices for orders up to a certain size before the order is executed.