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Improving the global competitiveness of the EU financial sector

Day 1 Morning

Wednesday 11 September

Room :

Fennia II - Roundtable

Speakers

Chair
Jose Manuel Campa Fernández
European Banking Authority, Chairperson
Public Authorities
Elke König
Chair, SRB
Luigi Federico Signorini
Deputy Governor and Member of the Governing Board, Banca d’Italia
Industry Representatives
Costanza Bufalini
Head of Group Regulatory Relations, UniCredit
Philippe Heim
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Société Générale
Michael West
Managing Director, Global Ratings & Research, Moody’s Investors Service

Objectives of the session

This session will first of all discuss the profitability challenges for the EU banking sector, the reasons why it remains persistently below its international peers and the policy measures that could improve this profitability. Then the session will focus on the specific competitiveness issues faced by the EU insurance and asset management sectors compared to the US ones.

Speakers will notably be invited to express their views on the impacts of lasting persistent zero or even negative long-term interest rates and digitalisation on the profitability of the EU banking, insurance and asset management sectors. The consequences of the forthcoming regulations (implementation of Basel III, bank financing of the Single Resolution Fund (SRF), its backstop and possibly EDIS, review of Solvency II, review of AIFMD…) on the competitiveness of the EU financial sector will also be discussed.

Points of discussion

How to explain the low profitability of EU banks? How to explain that EU banks have generated lower profitability than their US peers since the financial crisis (e.g. low interest rates, absence of a single market, level of competition, the “solo” regulatory approach, software accounting treatment, securitisation regulatory treatment, etc.)?

How capable are EU banks to confront the challenges facing them in the coming years?

What are the specific competitiveness issues faced by the EU insurance and Asset Management industries compared to the US industry?