14 October 2019

EuropeanIssuers welcomes the Savings and Sustainable Investment Union report

EuropeanIssuers welcomes most of the Recommendations stated in the CMU Expert Group report and offers to support the development of initiatives that work for companies, investors and the overall EU ecosystem.

Florence Bindelle, Secretary General of EuropeanIssuers, declared “We welcome most of the Report’s Transformational Recommendations for revitalising EU’s capital market ecosystem. Our industry needs a diversification of financial sources, including through the issuance of securities, a performing and well-established Capital Markets Union (CMU) and a tax framework that ensures the necessary financing for growth and innovation”.

For the successful development of the CMU in the coming years, the European Union needs to strengthen the competitiveness of its industry. This requires taking the Single Market to a new level by simplifying the regulatory environment in which companies operate. The incoming European Commission should focus its efforts in prioritising these Recommendations so that forthcoming legislative proposals deliver practical and measurable outcomes for corporates. The development of concrete key performance indicators to monitor retail participation in the equity market, numbers of IPOs, venture capital funding level, among others, are all highly welcomed by EuropeanIssuers.

Chairman, Mr Luc Vansteenkiste, stated that “EuropeanIssuers supports strengthening measures to enable and incentivise savers to turn into investors” and advocates for the creation of tax incentives to improve equity investment without worsening the tax treatment of debt. A possible solution could be the creation of an optional intermediary system of tax harmonisation for EU companies to avoid the burden of having to comply with every single national regime while operating in the EU.

Non-financial reporting should be based on the principle of materiality, and therefore support the possibility for companies to adapt in a stable, flexible way. On the other hand, given the diversity of approaches and evaluation methodologies in sustainability ratings, EuropeanIssuers’ members support the adoption of transparency rules on sustainability rating agencies in order to back up sustainable investments.

Sustainable Finance is an important matter and companies across Europe already incorporate ESG elements in their strategies and processes. To face the challenge of climate change and transition to a sustainable economy, an inclusive approach should be adopted by including non-financial companies in all the discussions and avoiding exclusion strategies as regards investments.

Full press release on EuropeanIssuers

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