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Our Research & Policy Aim

As a public interest organisation, BETTER FINANCE is committed to advancing the interests of individual investors and users of financial services throughout the European Union.

Our Goal

Our goal is to promote transparency, long-term value, and consumer protection in financial markets, ensuring that retail investors have a strong voice in policy discussions.

Our Approach

Working collaboratively with our member organisations, BETTER FINANCE undertakes rigorous analysis and research, engages in stakeholder consultations, and solicits expert contributions, resulting in well-informed, data-driven policy recommendations.

This approach ensures that EU financial regulations align with the interests of European citizens.

Explore Our Full Library of Publications

European shareholders call time on “postcode lottery” AGMs

New BETTER FINANCE survey reveals fragmented rules, persistent barriers, and risks of weakening individual shareholder voice across Europe A new Europe-wide survey by BETTER FINANCE members and coordinated by its ...
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/ Press Releases, Savings and Investment Union, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance

Evidence from AGMs: Fixing Europe’s Fragmented Shareholder Rights Framework (2025-2026)

BETTER FINANCE and IVA surveyed retail investor representatives across 15 European jurisdictions (13 EU Member States, together with the UK and Switzerland) to examine how shareholder rights work in practice ...
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/ Research papers, Capital Markets (equity & bonds), Savings and Investment Union, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance

BETTER FINANCE’s Open Letter on ESRS Sent to Commissioner Albuquerque

Dear Commissioner Albuquerque, I am writing to you in my capacity as Managing Director of BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users. We are the EU-level ...
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/ Public Letters, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance, Sustainable Finance

BETTER FINANCE Responds to the European Commission’s Citizens Omnibus Initiative on Reducing Administrative Burdens

BETTER FINANCE supports the Citizens' Omnibus initiative as an opportunity to ensure that EU financial services rules and markets work more effectively for individual investors, savers and pension beneficiaries. While ...
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/ Consultations, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance, Sustainable Finance

BETTER FINANCE Responds to the European Commission’s Revised Sustainability Reporting Standard for Voluntary Use (VSME)

BETTER FINANCE supports efforts to reduce disproportionate reporting burdens and recognises the importance of ensuring that sustainability reporting frameworks remain proportionate and operationally feasible. Simplification can contribute to the competitiveness ...
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/ Consultations, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance, Sustainable Finance

BETTER FINANCE Responds to the European Commission’s Revised Mandatory Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)

BETTER FINANCE welcomes the substantial simplification already achieved through EFRAG’s revised ESRS and supports efforts to reduce disproportionate reporting burdens. BETTER FINANCE also welcomes the retention of important principles including ...
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/ Consultations, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance, Sustainable Finance

BETTER FINANCE Responds to Commission’s Consultation on the Update of the Rules on Shareholder Rights

For individual investors, a reviewed European shareholder rights framework (moving from SRDII towards an SRDIII, or best, in part as an SRR regulation) must finally make AGM participation – or ...
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/ Consultations, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance

​​BETTER FINANCE Supports DSW’s Call for In-Person or Hybrid AGMs in Germany​

BETTER FINANCE expresses its strong support for its German member, DSW (Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz), and for the Ethos Foundation in their joint call for listed German companies to hold in-person or hybrid annual general ...
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/ Press Releases, Retail Investment Strategy, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance

When Companies Leave the Market | Strengthening Investor Protection in Europe’s Delisting Landscape

Listing and delisting are the entry and exit doors of public equity markets, yet only the former has meaningfully shaped EU policymaking. Recent reforms — most notably the 2024 Listing Act — focused on ...
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/ Research papers, Capital Markets (equity & bonds), Capital Markets Union (CMU), Securities Markets & Trading, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance

Transition Investing | Key Challenges and Opportunities | 2025 Report

Transition investing, or investing in emission-reducing activities, has not become obsolete in 2025. Global investment amounted to about $2.1 trillion in 2024, led by renewables, electric vehicles, and grids. China ...
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/ Research papers, Shareholder Rights & Corporate Governance, Sustainable Finance

For timely updates on our advocacy and regulatory positions, consult our press releases

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