Maria Luís Albuquerque has been appointed European commissioner for financial services and the savings and investments union for the 2024-2029 term. The Capital Markets Union (CMU) is notably absent from her list of priorities, replaced by the Savings and Investments Union (SIU).
While the CMU is still included in European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines for her second term, maintaining that “completing the CMU could attract an extra €470 billion of investment per year”, it is only mentioned in passing in von der Leyen’s letter to her new commissioner.
The Capital Markets Union, recognised by many industry bodies and public figures as a necessity for the European Union, is not mentioned in Albuquerque’s list of responsibilities – or her title. She replaces Mairead McGuiness, whose full title included financial stability and the CMU. The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) recently stressed the need for the union to be fulfilled in order to keep IPOs in Europe, a focus for the region acknowledged in the commissioner’s duties.
READ MORE: CMU enhancements key to improving EU IPO landscape, FESE says
Earlier this year, the European Commission began to discuss building the SIU on top of the CMU, which has been in development for more than a decade. As encouraged by former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta earlier this year, the SIU aims to mobilise private savings to finance the clean and digital transitions across Europe.
The initiative hones in on improving cross-border investment, as the original CMU aimed to do, developing a standardised investment fund structure for EU citizens to invest in. Those providing these funds would be instructed to handle withholding tax regimes and lower fees, with higher investor engagement expected to compensate for these changes. Mirroring the US market, users would gain access to simpler investing practices and better returns.
Albuquerque is tasked with developing the union and designing savings and investment products at an EU level with the goal of reducing capital market fragmentation.
READ MORE: Savings and investments union would strengthen EU competitiveness
Alongside this, she will oversee the continued development of the Banking Union and further work on the European Deposit Insurance Scheme will be made. In her speech to the European Parliament, von der Leyen stated: “public budgets can only go so far. We urgently need more private investment. [The] private capital gap is the main reason we lag behind on overall R&D spending, and thus on innovation.”
Building European competitiveness, in line with the Draghi report published earlier this year, is a key focus for the new Commission. Albuquerque is also tasked with reviewing the European regulatory framework to ensure that domestic companies and start-ups are able to finance their expansions in the region, continuing efforts to make the EU a more attractive prospect for firms to base themselves.
READ MORE: Draghi calls for European SEC to fix capital market fragmentation
Other initiatives that Albuquerque will be involved with are anti-money laundering and counter terrorism-financing projects, the protection of consumers and retail investors and ensuring that risk is managed through supervisory system improvements.
Preparing for future threats and opportunities, such as cyber attacks and digital finance technologies respectively, will also be priorities.
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