SIFMA to shed European operation

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association of New York and Washington said today that its London-based European operation will be spun off and merged with the London Investment Banking Association. The new lobbying group, which has yet to be named, will represent the securities industry on issues affecting the international, European and U.K. capital markets and will coordinate on global market and regulatory issues with SIFMA’s Asian and U.S. operations. It will be headed by Jonathan Taylor, LIBA’s director general. LIBA traces its roots to a grouping of banks formed after the first world war. SIFMA is the result of a 2006 merger of the Bond Market Association and the Securities Industry Association.