Brussels to tame 'Wild West' derivatives and short-selling

In the latest part of its endeavour to bring an end to the light-touch regulatory climate that produced the economic crisis, the European Commission has proposed a series of rules intending to shine a light on the until-now murky trading in some of the market's more complicated financial practices: derivatives and short-selling.

In the unveiling of the first of two bills, internal market commissioner Michel Barnier on Wednesday proposed that traders of what are called 'over-the-counter'...