Capital Markets Union: European Commission proposes new measures to boost Europe’s capital markets

One year on from the 2020 Capital Markets Union Action Plan, the Commission is delivering on its commitments, proposing measures to boost European capital markets. This will help Europe’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the digital and green transitions. In addition, the Commission has put forward a Communication setting out the actions it will take next year to spur the market.

Today’s proposals will ensure that investors have better access to company and trading data. The measures will also encourage long-term investment and make it easier and safer for investment funds to be sold cross-border. Overall, today’s proposals will better connect EU companies with investors, improving companies’ access to funding, broadening investment opportunities for retail investors, and further integrating EU capital markets.

Mairead McGuinness, Commissioner responsible for financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union said, “Capital markets play an essential role, alongside banks, in financing our economy but more progress is needed to move towards the completion of the Capital Markets Union.  We are today taking action at various levels: making our capital markets more transparent, facilitating access to financial and sustainability-related data, and making investment products such as ELTIFs and other alternative investment funds more attractive to investors and fund managers. This will better serve the needs of companies seeking finance to grow their business, which is crucial for the recovery and in meeting our green and digital objectives. But we are not stopping here; we are also announcing today more ambitious CMU initiatives to come in 2022 on access for companies to public markets, open finance, financial education and insolvency.”