Commenting on the re-election of Sharon Bowles, Liberal Democrat MEP for the South East of England, as Chair of the European Parliament's influential Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee today, Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said:

"Sharon is one of the most influential thinkers and legislators in Europe on financial services and the Eurozone crisis. Her re-election is good news for Europe and the UK.

"As party leader, I am proud that we have a leading Liberal Democrat in such a prominent and powerful position on the international scene. As UK Deputy Prime Minister, I am delighted and relieved to know that the EU financial services brief is in such expert hands.

"In the wake of the financial crisis, it is absolutely right that we undertake a complete overhaul of the rule book governing global finance and banking at the European, national and international level.

"Ministers and industry figures must now redouble our efforts to re-engage across Europe, pro-actively work with our partners to shape EU legislation that builds a more responsible, safe and successful banking sector, and deploy our financial expertise to help resolve the ongoing Eurozone crisis.

"I look forward to working with Sharon over the coming months in addressing these overwhelmingly important issues for the UK and Europe as a whole."

1. Sharon Bowles MEP was elected in 2009 as Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee which is the lead EP Committee dealing with financial services legislation and EU measures to tackle the Eurozone crisis.
2. The European Parliament must re-elect those in prominent positions at the mid-term point of the Parliament, including Committee Chairs. This vote took place today [Monday, 23 January 2012] and Sharon's received overwhelming support in the Committee. Nick Clegg phoned to congratulate her this afternoon. She will now remain as Committee Chair until the next European Elections in May 2014.
3. As Chair, she has won acclaim for her leadership of the committee and wider contribution to the global policy debate. Her speeches and statements have been well ahead of the game and she has received plaudits for her ideas from academics, European Commissioners and the media.
4. In September 2011, she was voted in the Top 10 'most influential' list by Financial News, a leading industry paper. She was very recently named on The Times '100 to watch in 2012' list.
5. Sharon was a leading figure in securing the successful adoption of the so called economic governance 'six pack' - a crucial set of EU legislation that will ensure that Eurozone countries are subject to near automatic sanctions for breaches of EU debt rules as set out in the Stability & Growth Pact.
6. Among Sharon's many other successes on the EU financial services brief, was her amendment to EU financial legislation, now implemented in the UK by the Financial Services Authority, that requires half of bankers' bonuses and golden goodbyes to be paid in so called 'contingent capital'. This means that the value of the bonus is dependent on the longer-term success of the bank and cannot be touched for many years. If the bank fails, the bonus evaporates. This means, for example, that it will be impossible for instances where bank executives walk away from failing banks with huge remuneration packages, as was seen in the Fred Goodwin case.