In our view, the Strategy for Retail Investors (the topic of this consultation) and the Capital Markets Union project are strongly interlinked as both share the aim to promote more investments into capital markets by EU households (individual, non-professional investors) in a safe, transparent, and trustworthy environment. As such, we believe that the Strategy for Retail Investments can be seen as a sub-part (although significant) of the Capital Markets Union project, which also covers other topics, such as professional trading and investments.
BETTER FINANCE has supported the initiatives to create a Capital Markets Union since the initial Action Plan in 2015. The EU needs integrated capital markets in which EU citizens’ long-term capital can be optimally allocated to well-performing and cost-efficient investment products across the EU, benefitting from bias-free investment services.
In short, the EU needs a CMU “That Works for People”. This is now all the more important as the global health pandemic brought about two significant developments.