Hill set to be quizzed again by EU lawmakers

EU lawmakers will quiz Jonathan Hill for a second time today after they said the UK’s nominee to be the bloc’s next financial services chief failed to satisfy them in an initial hearing last week.

The extra grilling will take place in Brussels at 1pm, a European Parliament official told reporters.

Hill — put forward by British prime minister David Cameron’s government — failed to secure instant backing from the parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee after a three-hour hearing on October 1, in which he was queried on subjects from too-big-to-fail banks to Britain’s relationship with the EU.

“Lord Hill owes the parliament explanations on many issues,” Sven Giegold, a German lawmaker in the assembly’s Green group, said on his personal website.

“He could or did not want to explain his plans for our financial system.”

In answers to a further set of 23 written questions from lawmakers, Hill addressed matters such as securitisation and virtual currencies, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.

The case for high-quality securitisation “seems strong” and one of his first priorities in the financial- services role would be to assess its potential impact, Hill said in the document.

“The intention is not to undo what has been put in place by the recent financial reforms in Europe,” he said. “The door should remain closed to complex, opaque and risky instruments such as subprime instruments.”

Hill said he would keep under “close scrutiny” the developments of virtual currencies such as bitcoin, holding out the possibility that they be subject to the EU’s anti-money laundering rules. He also said he would consider further measures to shore up the European banking sector, and said all benchmarks should be covered by future EU legislation.

The EU Parliament can veto the team proposed by Jean-Claude Juncker who is set to lead the commission.

In addition to Hill, the parliament has delayed approval for Pierre Moscovici, the former French finance minister who is slated to become the EU’s next economy chief; Miguel Arias Canete, nominated by Spain as the EU’s climate and energy commissioner; Vera Jourova, a Czech whom Juncker wants to take over the commission post overseeing justice, consumer affairs and gender equality; and Tibor Navracsics, a Hungarian slated for the education and culture role.