European Retirement Week, held annually during the last week of November, brings together a wide range of stakeholders to debate the future of pensions in Europe and to raise awareness of the importance of long-term savings and retirement adequacy. As part of this year’s edition, BETTER FINANCE and FESE co-organised the conference “Turning Savings into
Every year, the first week of October is dedicated to raising awareness of investor education and protection through World Investor Week (WIW). Organised by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the global body that brings together the world’s securities regulators and sets international standards for the sector, World Investor Week is a week-long global
On 30 September 2025, BETTER FINANCE, in collaboration with the European Financial Planning Association (EFPA), hosted a high-level conference in Brussels to discuss the future of financial advice and literacy in Europe. Under the theme “Financial Literacy and Professional Advice: Driving Confidence, Protection and Well-Being of EU Citizens,” the discussions highlighted the urgent need to
This summer, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched a consultation on the “retail investor journey” with the ambition to understand how citizens engage with capital markets and what prevents them from doing so. As the independent voice of individual investors and financial services users, BETTER FINANCE welcomes this step. For too long, retail
We are pleased to share the positive conclusions from the European Commission’s interim evaluation of the Single Market Programme 2021–2027 (SMP), which assessed the implementation and impact of EU-funded initiatives, including BETTER FINANCE’s work. Defending EU Citizens as Savers and Individual Investors The evaluation confirms BETTER FINANCE is effectively fulfilling
BETTER FINANCE’s International Investors’ Conference “Empowering Minority Shareholders and Advancing Individual Investor Rights,” co-organised with its member organisation AEMEC in Madrid, brought high-level stakeholders together to address critical developments in retail investor protection and shareholder engagement. Through panel discussions and keynote speeches, the event reaffirmed the need for robust, inclusive, and enforceable investor frameworks within
On 28 May 2025, BETTER FINANCE co-hosted a high-level roundtable discussion with the World Gold Council, titled “Silence is Golden: Exploitation of Artisanal Gold Miners to Fund War, Terrorism, and Organised Crime”. Held at the Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU in Brussels, the event brought together senior EU officials, diplomats, NGO
In April 2025, BETTER FINANCE’s advocacy efforts were prominently featured across leading European financial media outlets such as POLITICO, Ignites Europe (Financial Times) and Le Soir. Through its firm commitment to promoting fair treatment of individual investors as well as fostering a more integrated, transparent and efficient European financial market that aligns with sustainability practices,
The BETTER FINANCE conference “Towards a Savings and Investment Union” brought together high-level policymakers, industry leaders, consumer advocates, and financial experts to address one of the European Union’s most pressing challenges: unlocking the €10 trillion in household savings currently held in low-yield bank deposits and reorienting them towards productive investments that support long-term growth, pension
By Matis Joab, Executive Director of BETTER FINANCE* In recent years, investor protection in Europe has increasingly come into focus, as individual investors struggle to benefit from capital markets and face significant losses due to corporate misconduct, unclear governance, and poor and fragmented market conditions. These issues have eroded trust, preventing EU citizens from putting