Andreas Stepnitzka, EFAMA Deputy Director, Regulatory Policy, comments:
Andreas Stepnitzka, EFAMA Deputy Director, Regulatory Policy, comments:
EFAMA has today published its latest monthly Investment Fund Industry Fact Sheet, which provides net sales data on UCITS, and AIFs sold in August 2021, at European level and by country of fund domiciliation.
The Commission aims to present a legislative proposal to address the tax-induced debt-equity bias, also to support the action plan for the Capital Markets Union and to encourage companies to finance their investment through equity contributions rather than through debt financing.
“Oliver Wyman’s study ‘Caught on Tape’ provides a perplexing take on Consolidated Tape for Europe. Sure enough, it starts with accurate observations: the high number of trading venues in Europe, the resultant fragmented liquidity, unseen liquidity due to the lack of a consolidated tape, and the fact that leading markets like the US and Canada today benefit from a real time consolidated tape.
The current lack of quality pre- and post-trade data and the fragmentation of data sources remain an obstacle to the completion of the Capital Markets Union. The benefits of a real-time Consolidated Tape are wide-ranging: from market surveillance for supervisors, to best execution and an improved view on trading opportunities for retail investors, to portfolio management and pre- and post-trade analysis for fund managers to name a few.
EFAMA has been at the forefront of efforts to urge authorities to raise financial literacy levels in the general population through widespread and improved financial and investor education initiatives. We are also a long-time supporter of IOSCO's World Investor Week and organise a yearly event on investor education.
The old-age dependency ratio in the EU continues to increase; Eurostat’s recent figures project that by 2050, there will be fewer than 2 working-age adults for each person aged 65 or older, versus just under 3 today.
Investor education initiatives are essential to improve financial literacy and empower citizens to make sound decisions when managing their savings. If citizens do not have the basic knowledge to understand financial concepts such as risk diversification, compound interest and real rate of return, they won’t know where to start or what to ask should they wish to invest their savings. A lack of sufficient financial literacy in most European countries helps explain why the vast majority of households don’t directly invest any of their savings in the capital markets.
- Asset managers represent an important group of benchmarks’ users. In this context, EURIBOR rate is used by investment funds across all kinds of asset classes and financial instruments, as well as a benchmark for measuring fund performance, driving fee calculations and determining asset allocation.
- The identification of fallback rates for the contract with reference to EURIBOR are essential for asset managers and a stable and permanent approach would make the fallback clauses more robust and ensure further transparency.
EFAMA welcomes this ESMA initiative and we agree with the conclusions in the ESMA Report that there is an overall need to strengthen the laws applicable to data in connection with the MiFIDII/MiFIR Review, aside the implementation of a Consolidated Tape . We consider that the draft Guidelines will further strengthen the MiFID level 1 and level 2 measures and will foster the establishment of a cost-based approach for market data procurement. Therefore, we would be in favour of turning the proposed guidelines into binding regulation.
The AIFMD is one of the pillars of EU regulation for asset managers and investment funds, which have a crucial role to play in the development of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) and the post Covid-19 economic recovery in the EU.
We fully support the ambitions of the new CMU Action Plan. Properly executed, it has the potential to boost the fortunes of Europe’s pensioners and savers by creating opportunities for them to share in the upside of Europe’s economic recovery and to create more efficient and better integrated European capital markets, which is key to finance European innovation as well as the transition towards a more sustainable and digital economy.
The European investment management industry is helping savers achieve their financial goals and build up retirement savings. Investment management is a vital part of the European economy, providing funding for companies and infrastructure projects and contributing to economic growth and job creation across all Member States.
As the voice of European asset management industry, EFAMA strongly welcomes the development of
the EU Taxonomy and its technical screening criteria. We see the Taxonomy as a critical tool to
unleashing the potential of sustainable finance in Europe by assisting issuers, project promoters,
companies, investors, and other financial market participants in identifying truly sustainable economic
activities. We wish to put forward recommendations that aim to improve the usability and integrity of this
framework.
Discover the 6 reasons why your organisation should become a member of EFAMA.
Our members enjoy significant benefits including the opportunity to shape the industry positions, get first-hand access to regulatory and political intelligence, engage with industry peers and policymakers, and take part in EFAMA events.
Our three membership categories cater to the wide range of organisations that make up and support the investment management industry in Europe.