Fragmentation in financial markets has been identified as a barrier to more efficient functioning of the EU’s capital markets. This event is an opportunity to engage with industry stakeholders across the financial landscape on the degree of integration of EU capital markets. It will bring together investment funds, infrastructure operators and other market players. In parallel to this event, the Commission will keep engaging with other key stakeholders, including regulators.

The Commission views consolidation as a market-driven process with EU legislation aiming to remove obstacles and provide incentives to that process. This workshop should help identify any barriers to consolidation, both at the level of integration of market infrastructures and of consolidation and scaling up of investment funds in the EU.

Regarding integration of market infrastructures, the discussion will cover various market segments – exploring its potential benefits, challenges, and the regulatory landscape.

Speakers will also discuss the role of investment funds in making the EU economy more competitive, particularly through fostering investments into innovative companies. This can be difficult to achieve given the level of fragmentation in the investment funds offer, the event should therefore help us identify barriers to the consolidation of investment funds, including venture capital and private equity funds.

This discussion will be framed by the objectives of the capital markets union (CMU) project and the broader goal of enhancing EU competitiveness.

In this context, the Commission has also recently launched a study on “consolidation and reducing fragmentation in trading and post-trading infrastructures in Europe and on the scaling up of funds investing in innovative and growth firms”.

As the seats for this event are limited, the Commission staff will review the expressions of interest in order to ensure a balanced audience. Please wait for an explicit confirmation that your attendance is approved before proceeding with travel arrangements.
If multiple registrations per organisation have been received for physical presence, the Commission staff might limit the physical representation to a single person per organisation. Others are welcome to follow the event online.

Register for the roundtable

The event will be web streamed. The web stream links will be available here soon.