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The European Commission published a legislative proposal for a regulation on European green bonds, which is supposed to become the high quality voluntary European Green Bond Standard. Its intention is to use the potential of the single market for achieving the EU’s climate and environmental goals in a more efficient way.

There is a growing wave of ESG regulation and an increasing need for ESG reporting – nationally, regionally and internationally. In Europe, ESG rating and data providers are indicative of an immature but growing market, which has seen the emergence of a small number of large non-EU headquartered providers.

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) created the International Sustainability Standards Board “to provide the global financial markets with high-quality disclosures on climate and other sustainability issues.” As part of its work, the ISSB published two exposure drafts on climate-related disclosures and geenral requirements for disclosure of sustainbility-related financial information.

The Corporate Sustainbility Reporting Directive mandates for the creation of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which require companies in scope to report on a full range of sustainbility information (environmental, social and governance). EFRAG is expected to deliver its final draft ESRS to the European Commission in November 2022. The standards are aimed at ensuring

The Banking Union initiative has reduced the number and magnitude of bank failures and the recourse to taxpayers’ money. However, up to now, it has been focused on prudential objectives, not on citizens as banking users’ protection. This has too often generated significant detriment to consumers of banking services.

Yesterday, the European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its report on high earners for 2017, available for the first time in a user-friendly format on the remuneration of “staff whose professional activities have a material impact on” the risk profile of the financial institution. The Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV) sets out principles for sound

Today, the European Commission has reported on the latest developments in risk reduction in the EU banking sector, as well as the progress towards an even more integrated and stable EU financial system. As outlined by the Commission, the risk reduction in the EU banking sector is continuing at a sustained pace, while financial stability

The effects of the 2008 financial crisis were supported by European citizens in their double quality as depositors and taxpayers. The overhaul of the banking sector (see article here) put mechanisms for prudential oversight and crisis resolution in place. Just one piece of legislation remains to be added to the European Single Rulebook: the European

To achieve a fully-fledged Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the E.U. must complete the Banking Union (BU) based on a harmonised, risk-sharing banking services sector. The last step remaining is the establishment of a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS, see here). A complete overhaul of the field is hard to obtain since a system  resilient

Largely ignored, Slovenian investors suffer the consequences of the harshest bank rescue to date… The actual implementation of bail-in rules in the case of the Slovenian banks is hitting non-insider retail investors really hard, and does not give them a fair shot at recovering their damages three years after their savings in those banks’ subordinated

Date: Wednesday, 17 April 2024 | Time: 14h00 – 18h00 | Place: University Foundation, 11 Rue d’Egmont, 1000 Brussels PROGRAMME 13h30 – 14h00 | Registration & Coffee 14h00 – 14h10 | Welcome | Aleksandra Mączyńska, Acting Managing Director, BETTER FINANCE 14h10 – 14h30 | Keynote Speech | José Manuel Campa, Chair, European Banking Authority (EBA)

BETTER FINANCE released its updated report on the progress of the European Capital Markets Union (CMU), and the results are discouraging. The report analyses the first five key performance indicators (KPIs) used to assess the progress of the CMU, and adds two additional KPIs to reflect developments in EU capital markets. The report is based

A recent survey conducted by BETTER FINANCE and DSW among 3000 investors across the EU found that withholding tax (WHT) refund procedures are cumbersome and costly, making it difficult or financially unreasonable for non-professional investors to reclaim excess withholding tax on cross-border dividend income. More than 90% of European investors find the WHT reclaim procedure

The Retail Investment Strategy will be key in establishing a Capital Markets Union “that works for people”. The successful combined completion of the Retail Investor Strategy and the CMU Action Plan could generate a quantum leap in investor protection, empowerment and engagement, to their benefit and to the benefit of the CMU, sustainable investing and

[ARCHIVED: This survey is now closed] The refund of withholding taxes on dividends – to avoid double taxation – can be a complicated procedure for private investors/shareholders across the European Union. Many factors must be taken into account, including the tax residence of the shareholder and the country of the issuer (the listed company), administrative

The European Union presented its new plan to renovate the structure of its stock markets. It’s the third wave of reforms since the project was launched six years ago. The EU has been working on the creation of a capital markets union (CMU), which has been affected by the UK’s departure after Brexit. One of

Access to equity market data is essential for “retail” investors to make informed investment decisions. However, new research by BETTER FINANCE [1] found that online equity market data published by the four largest EU equity markets (in 2019, according to ESMA) are de facto not or just partially accessible to non-professional users.[2] Equity trading venues (Regulated

Today the European Parliament (EP) voted on the Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Committee’s own-initiative report on the further development of the Capital Markets Union (CMU).[1] The report calls for specific measures to help finance businesses, promote long-term and cross-border investment, strengthen market architecture and support retail investors. With more than 15 resolutions proposed or

24 September 2020 – The European Commission’s (EC) Directorate-General for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) published a third action plan to build a Capital Markets Union (CMU) – this time for “people and businesses” – which sets 16 policy and regulatory objectives in order to “finally complete the Capital Markets

The crisis- and Brexit-laden context have given the project new arguments to be on the European agenda. […] This is the second try for the Capital Markets Union (CMU). Europe had launched this project five years ago with the idea of supporting the financing of the economy via the capital markets. […] There is now

After the 2023 AGM season and looking ahead to the 2024 season, BETTER FINANCE and its member organisations voice concerns about the erosion of shareholder rights. Inadequate rules for Virtual Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in some Member States highlight the need for broader engagement and representation frameworks for investors to truly benefit from digitalisation. The

Today, BETTER FINANCE, the leading advocate for European citizens as investors, savers, shareholders, and financial services users, unveils its manifesto ahead of the upcoming European Union elections in June 2024. Entitled “Sustainable Value for Money: Reconciling Individuals, Enterprises & The Planet,” the manifesto calls for a renewed emphasis on better outcomes for consumers, long-term investment,

For long‐term and pension savers, the year 2022 was undoubtedly a calamitous one. Poor capital market performance and sky‐rocketing inflation across all European Union (EU) Member States resulted in disastrous returns, both in nominal and real terms, for virtually all of the product categories analysed in this report. This comes after a year 2021 that

The Real Return of Long-term and Pension Savings 2023 – Austria The Real Return of Long-term and Pension Savings 2023 – Belgium The Real Return of Long-term and Pension Savings 2023 – Bulgaria The Real Return of Long-term and Pension Savings 2023 – Croatia The Real Return of Long-term and Pension Savings 2023 – Denmark

For long‐term and pension savers, the year 2022 was undoubtedly a calamitous one. Poor capital market performance and sky‐rocketing inflation across all European Union (EU) Member States resulted in disastrous returns, both in nominal and real terms, for virtually all of the product categories analysed in this report. This comes after a year 2021 that

BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users, has released its Pensions Report 2023, uncovering the dire challenges confronting long-term and pension savers across 17 EU Member States in the aftermath of a tumultuous 2022. In what is termed an “annus horribilis,” the report exposes the setbacks faced by savers, with disastrous

Transition investing refers to capital needed to improve economic activities, that are not environmentally friendly at present. Such capital supports the development of innovation and infrastructure, enabling current activities to eventually achieve climate neutrality. The European Commission’s release of the transition finance ‘Recommendation’[1] emphasised the importance of such investments for Europe’s pursuit of environmentally conscious

We are pleased to share that Jesse Collin, from BETTER FINANCE member organization Finnish Share Promotion Foundation, has been selected as a member of ESMA’s Consultative Working Group in the Risk Standing Committee – Investor Trends and Research Working Group. The working group will focus on consumers, ESG and innovation related topics. For a full

As part of the European Responsible Investment Network (ERIN), BETTER FINANCE has joined forces with ShareAction and other NGOs to launch an EU Elections Manifesto, urging EU policymakers to take bold action on sustainable finance. Within this manifesto, we have outlined our key recommendations for the upcoming European Commission: Accelerate investments in Europe’s transition to

There has been considerable progress on both supervisory convergence and the single rulebook since the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) were created in 2011. Nevertheless, both require continued and appropriately targeted efforts to make further progress. To this end, the Commission’s capital markets union (CMU) action plan published on 24 September 2020, requires the European

BETTER FINANCE welcomes the Commission’s initiative to create a unique digital platform – a European Single Access Point – for investors to access all information about issuers of financial instruments and manufacturers of investment products. For a long time, BETTER FINANCE has called for standardising and aggregating in one source information, data, and documents on

The EU CMU project aims to rebalance the funding for the EU economy from banks to capital markets. The key requisite for this to happen is to foster retail investments into capital markets. Following a proposal from BETTER FINANCE, the EC added a new CMU action in 2017 to “develop best practices in employee share

On the 14th of November ESMA launched the Interactive Single Rulebook (ISRB). ISRB is a new service for market participants and interested shareholders across the EU, with the aim of facilitating a consistent application of the EU Single Rulebook in the securities markets area. For the launch, the UCITS Directive was picked to serve as the

The creation of a more predictable, stable and clear regulatory environment to incentivise investments is one of the key objectives of the third pillar of the Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe. The Capital Markets Union (CMU) action plan is part of this third strand. The Mid-term review of the CMU action plan further emphasises that

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) today published a Consultation Paper related to the development of an EU Single Market for personal pension products (PPPs). This public consultation will provide input, within the broader context of the Call for Advice from the Commission, on how PPPs and a possible European Union-wide framework can

BETTER FINANCE publishes its press release following the launch of the "Green Paper on retail Financial Services” and its consultation issued today by the European Commission. BETTER FINANCE therefore welcomes the Green Paper but will it be the one to eventually bring about an integrated and competitive European market for retail financial services? BETTER FINANCE worries

The Commission’s proposal for the review of the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD), aimed at countering wide-spread short-termism in favour of a long-term perspective in the governance of listed companies by stimulating stronger shareholder engagement, was presented to the European Parliament (EP) and Council. For all intents and purposes the SRD in its current form means

EIOPA issued its initial preliminary report on the creation of a single market for third-pillar pensions in the European Union. Following a request by the European Commission, EIOPA’s report looked at prudential regulations and the consumer protection measures needed to create a single market for personal pensions. EIOPA identified two feasible alternatives for the creation of a single market. One of the options on the table is the introduction