Coopération transfrontalière : la clé du combat contre la fraude internationale sur les valeurs mobilières

Abstract

Cross-border cooperation : the key to combatting international securities fraud A key responsibility of every securities regulator is to ensure the integrity of its markets. To accomplish this, one needs fair laws and regulations as well as the ability to enforce those laws and regulations. Given the internationalization of the world's securities markets, information relevant to enforcing the securities laws is now oftentimes located outside any one regulator's national borders. Based on its extensive experience with international evidence-gathering, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relies upon cooperation with the relevant regulators - rather than unilateral action - as the means for gaining access to evidence located abroad. The SEC has formalized many of its cooperative relationships with foreign securities regulators in the form of memoranda of understanding (MOUs). The article discusses the SEC's development of MOUs as a means for developing cooperative relationships between securities regulators in different countries, the legislation that has facilitated the provision of meaningful international cooperation, and the international response to this approach. The article concludes with a discussion of the environment for international cooperation that now exists among regulators.