Benjamin Doty, CFA

Natasha Cazenave, head of policy and international affairs at France's Autorite des Marches Financiers, has called for renewed enthusiasm for a European capital markets union in light of Britain's imminent departure from the EU. The project has made little headway in the European Council or Parliament, but Cazenave said in an interview: "We have to think about what it means to have a region that is multipolar and where you will have a number of financial centers -- there isn't going to be an equivalent of London tomorrow." Risk (subscription required) (16 Jul.)

The US House is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a package of 32 bills aimed at easing the Dodd-Frank Act. The JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018 has the support of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and the committee's ranking minority member, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. ThinkAdvisor (free registration) (16 Jul.)

The EU and Japan have launched a free trade zone that encompasses 600 million people and almost a third of the world's GDP. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk signed the agreement Tuesday at the EU-Japan Summit. Deutsche Welle (Germany) (17 Jul.)