Steven Maijoor’s Keynote Speech At EuroFinUse Conference On The Better Finance Manifesto - How To Restore European Household’s Confidence In Long Term Savings And Investments

Steven Maijoor, Chair of ESMA

EuroFinUse Conference on The Better Finance Manifesto, Brussels

Excerpt

“Allow me to begin my thoughts by summarising the current situation of the European financial sector: The effects of the financial crisis and the subsequent EU sovereign debt problems still linger on.

There are:

expectations for further bank deleveraging,
a reluctance in the private sector towards raising capital on equity and debt markets,
and only slowly receding doubts among investors about the stability of financial markets.

But the situation is improving: The progress on implementing the post-crisis regulatory reform agenda as well as addressing the sovereign-bank nexus are vital building blocks for fostering confidence in the markets. In addition, the recent economic stabilization – reflected by an expected growth rate of 1.5% for 2014 in the EU – is already starting to lift the spirits of entrepreneurs and their appetite to engage in additional investment.

This newly revived appetite requires new funding, either intermediated by banks or from securities markets. As our banking systems are going through an important phase of transformation, markets and policy makers increasingly look to securities markets for fresh impulses. And I very much concur that we need to explore what funding opportunities we can develop through capital market financing.”