Blockade or blunder? Enigma of EU cross-border trading ban

Drafting errors and lawmaker’s comments leave industry perplexed about controversial new rules

Downplaying an ill-judged move is a regular occurrence in political circles. And the European Commission is no exception. It currently finds itself having to row back on controversial proposals it released last October that would ban “core” banking activities from outside the EU.

A major problem of the rules is that their definition of “core” appears to extend to almost every cross-border financial deal entering the union. But three separate sources say the lawmaker has been downplaying the