Dr Moore is responding to an earlier letter written by John Coffee, professor of law at Columbia University Law School and director of its Center on Corporate Governance, suggesting that the UK stiffen up its traditional ‘regulation-lite’ approach towards securities regulation.

In his response, Dr Moore argues that, while there may be a case for stronger enforcement mechanisms in respect of core securities law issues (for example, insider trading and accounting transparency), there is little evidence of the need for such reform in respect of non-core securities law matters, such as tender offers and corporate board structures.

The full text of the letter, entitled ‘UK’s ‘light touch’ approach is beyond question’, can be found on the Financial Times website.