Speakers
Chair
John Berrigan
Director General - DG FISMA, European Commission
Public Authorities
Harald Waiglein
Director General for Economic Policy and Financial Markets - Federal Ministry of Finance, Austria
Riccardo Barbieri Hermitte
Director General of the Treasury - Ministry of Economy and Finance, Italy
Industry Representatives
Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi
Chairman of the Board - Euroclear S.A.
Jean Lemierre
Chairman - BNP Paribas
Objectives
The Competitiveness Compass recognizes the financial sector as a “horizontal enabler of competitiveness”. At the same time the Draghi report identifies the financial sector among the 3 sectors where the competitive gap with the US has grown the most in the last 10 years.The aim of this exchange of views is first to identify the key measures to improve the profitability of European banks and favour the consolidation of market infrastructures in Europe. Then speakers will be invited to express their views on the regulatory changes and appropriate measures to abandon ring fencing measures and improve the competitiveness of the EU financial sector.
Points of discussion
- Why should the European Union consider the banking and financial sector as a strategic sector for Europe? And if so, how can this be achieved?
a) Why is the profitability of European banks, which has improved over the past two years, still lower than that of their international competitors? How can European banks increase their market share in corporate and investment banking in Europe and internationally? What are the implications for Europe’s financial stability and strategic autonomy of its growing dependence on non-European financial institutions?
b) Several reports recently published on CMU and the Letta and Draghi reports emphasize the importance of further integrating or consolidating market infrastructure in the EU. How feasible is this? What obstacles need to be overcome for such consolidation to take place? What are the main drivers for reducing fragmentation in the trading and post-trading areas: further harmonization of regulation, integration of supervision at EU level …? - What EU past and upcoming regulations should be modified to increase the competitiveness of the banking and financial sector?To what extent will host countries’ economies be less financed and their savers at risk as a result of the creation of an effective savings and investment union and a genuine banking union (cross- border mergers, abandon of ring-fencing policies…)?