This book is among the first to provide an extensive and critical assessment of EC securities regulation. With the introduction of the Euro, the rapid evolution of EC securities markets and the adoption of the 1999 Financial Services Action Plan, completion of the single market in securities and investment services has emerged as a high profile priority at EC level. While the main planks of the legal framework of the single market in securities and investment services are now, after a period of intensive legislative activity, in place, the strains which the rapidly developing EC securities market is placing on this regime are also becoming apparent as EC capital markets deepen, stock exchanges link up, trading platforms develop, and retail investors, through the internet, are exposed to the wider EC marketplace. The object of this book is to consolidate and provide a critical assessment of this important body of law and its underlying policies and themes at a critical point in its development. The regulation of primary and secondary markets is examined, with considerable attention paid to the provision of investment services. While the book assesses how EC securities regulation has sought to create a single market in securities and investment services, it also evaluates the substantive rules of the regime, including the EC securities disclosure system and the prudential and conduct of business supervision structure applicable to investment service providers, as well as the relevant Treaty provisions and the caselaw of the Court of Justice. The text also deals with the most recent developments in the area, including the progress towards completion of the Financial Services Action Plan, the deliberations of the Committee of Wise Men on the Regulation of European Securities Markets and the review currently underway of the pivotal Investment Services Directive.