Capital Markets Union
Building a Capital Markets Union (CMU) serving the needs of European citizens and businesses is as ambitious as it is essential: the effort will enable pensioners and savers to share in the upside of Europe’s economic recovery. In the process, European capital markets also become more efficient and better integrated. This long-term vision is key to financing European innovation and to supporting the transition towards a more sustainable economy.
Increasing retail investors’ participation in capital markets is an essential component for building an effective CMU. Improving access to financial and non-financial information and addressing the high data costs our industry is encountering, are also important steps towards a functioning CMU. All this, while maintaining and improving the attractiveness of the European investment management sector in today's global environment.
EFAMA prepared a list of key actions that are required to reach the CMU objectives from an investor perspective. We have also developed a specific Key Performance Indicator to measure year-on-year progress towards increasing retail participation in capital markets in each member state.
EFAMA Position Paper on Prospectus Regulation
EFAMA welcomes the decision of the Commission to review the prospectus regime with the objective to make it easier and simpler for companies generally and in particular SMEs in Europe to access capital markets, to provide all types of issuers with further simplification and flexibity and to ensure adequate information for investors.
EFAMA response to Green Paper on Retail Financial Services
EFAMA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the European Commission’s Green Paper on retail financial services. Widening the opportunities for European citizens to save and invest will facilitate better outcomes both for savers and the wider European economy.
EFAMA fully shares the goals of a Single Market for retail financial services in the EU, i.e.:
1. Promoting an EU-wide market in retail financial services that can facilitate cross-border business and consumer choice.
Households continue to keep a disproportionate amount of money in bank deposits in most European countries
New report calls for action to be taken to revive the Capital Markets Union project
Household Participation in Capital Markets
This report analyses the progress made in recent years by European households in allocating more of their financial wealth to capital market instruments (pension plans, life insurance, investment funds, debt securities and listed shares) and less in cash and bank deposits. It also includes policy recommendations on improving retail participation in capital markets, including for the Retail Investment Strategy currently under discussion.
Some key findings include:
Policymakers threaten to backtrack on pre-trade data for EU consolidated tape
European asset managers continue to urge policymakers to support the European Parliament’s proposal for an Equities/ETFs consolidated tape which includes 5 layers of real-time pre-trade data. Market participants, including the European buy and sell-sides have consistently maintained that a post-trade only equities/ETFs consolidated tape will not meet with the market demand required to make the tape commercially viable. Tanguy van de Werve, Director General of EFAMA, stated: “This would be a legislative se
Charting the Course: Unlocking Retail Participation in EU Capital Markets
At the Roundtable on the distribution of retail investment products on 18 July 2023, the European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness, invited the European Banking Federation (EBF), the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and Insurance Europe to advance an industry-driven process to explore common solutions aimed at increasing retail participation in EU capital markets.
The Capital Flywheel
The European Capital Markets Report is a joint initiative authored by Oliver Wyman and co-developed by EFAMA, the European Banking Federation (EBF) and the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE). This report reviews progress made towards the CMU and provides recommendations on how to improve the competitiveness of European capital markets.
Unlocking private investment to fund Europe's triple transitions
EFAMA’s publication lays out the asset management sector’s policy priorities for the next five years, building on the in-depth expertise of our members. This includes practical recommendations for keeping Europe competitive and developing deeper, more integrated and liquid capital markets in Europe.
The recommendations focus around four main objectives:
