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.
The competitiveness of EU asset managers is heavily reliant on the quality, stability, cost-efficiency and predictability of the rules under which they operate.
As part of our recommendations to make competitiveness a central element of all EU policies, we highlight the importance of tackling anti-competitive market practices and the ever-increasing cost of various types of data.
The FCA’s recent report on the wholesale data market is an important and high-quality study which echoes many long-standing buy-side concerns. It finds evidence of unequal market power in terms of market concentration, highly profitable margins, opaque pricing practices, excessive charging, bundling practices and complex licensing agreements, all of which negatively impact data users. Much of this data is indispensable for users to stay in business and fulfil regulatory obligations.
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:
How to avoid a new Herstatt crisis?
It has been a while since Herstatt risk has been referenced in financial circles and certainly in the mainstream media, however, it is something that the European fund management industry is concerned about as the deadline for shortening the US settlement cycle draws near.
EFAMA has published its response to the UK FCA’s consultation paper (CP23/28) on updating its regime for Money Market Funds (MMFs). While fundamentally agreeing on the need to definitely remove the existing link between liquidity breaches and the potential activation of LMTs for stable NAV MMFs, we express significant reservations with the proposed enhancements to the existing liquidity ratios across all types of MMF structures.
The UK regulator (FCA) has taken a pragmatic approach in developing its Overseas Fund Regime (OFR) specifying the process that European retail funds would have to follow to gain, and keep, access to the UK market. This regime, which will replace the Temporary Marketing Permission Regime (TMPR), offers a streamlined access to the UK market in comparison to the current and time-consuming recognition process which is open to all overseas funds (...)
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