Andreas Stepnitzka, EFAMA Deputy Director, Regulatory Policy, comments:
Andreas Stepnitzka, EFAMA Deputy Director, Regulatory Policy, comments:
EFAMA has today published its latest monthly Investment Fund Industry Fact Sheet, which provides net sales data on UCITS, and AIFs sold in August 2021, at European level and by country of fund domiciliation.
The Commission aims to present a legislative proposal to address the tax-induced debt-equity bias, also to support the action plan for the Capital Markets Union and to encourage companies to finance their investment through equity contributions rather than through debt financing.
“Oliver Wyman’s study ‘Caught on Tape’ provides a perplexing take on Consolidated Tape for Europe. Sure enough, it starts with accurate observations: the high number of trading venues in Europe, the resultant fragmented liquidity, unseen liquidity due to the lack of a consolidated tape, and the fact that leading markets like the US and Canada today benefit from a real time consolidated tape.
The current lack of quality pre- and post-trade data and the fragmentation of data sources remain an obstacle to the completion of the Capital Markets Union. The benefits of a real-time Consolidated Tape are wide-ranging: from market surveillance for supervisors, to best execution and an improved view on trading opportunities for retail investors, to portfolio management and pre- and post-trade analysis for fund managers to name a few.
EFAMA has been at the forefront of efforts to urge authorities to raise financial literacy levels in the general population through widespread and improved financial and investor education initiatives. We are also a long-time supporter of IOSCO's World Investor Week and organise a yearly event on investor education.
The old-age dependency ratio in the EU continues to increase; Eurostat’s recent figures project that by 2050, there will be fewer than 2 working-age adults for each person aged 65 or older, versus just under 3 today.
Investor education initiatives are essential to improve financial literacy and empower citizens to make sound decisions when managing their savings. If citizens do not have the basic knowledge to understand financial concepts such as risk diversification, compound interest and real rate of return, they won’t know where to start or what to ask should they wish to invest their savings. A lack of sufficient financial literacy in most European countries helps explain why the vast majority of households don’t directly invest any of their savings in the capital markets.
EFAMA, the voice of the European investment management industry, believes that, for retail clients, standardised disclosure of information can improve the comparability of financial products that promote environmental and/or social characteristics or have a sustainable objective. It will also contribute to the broader policy objectives of the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) to enhance transparency towards end-investors, hold market participants accountable and fight greenwashing.
EFAMA, the voice of the European investment management industry, strongly supports the initiative to establish an EU Green Bond Standard (GBS). We believe that, thanks to the recommendations made by the TEG, the GBS has a great potential to effectively play its important role in financing assets needed for the low-carbon transition.
EFAMA comments the IASB's Exposure Draft (ED/2017/7). It supports IASB's efforts to improve consistency in the layout of the primary financial statements and the relevance of financial statements.
Proposals around new defined sub-totals and line items will improve consistency and will assist in the implementation of electronic reporting format initiatives.
EFAMA appreciates the Commission's efforts in pursuing an alleviation of certain MiFID II requirements in the interest of promoting a swift recovery from the economic crisis precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic (....).
EFAMA believes however that there are more effective ways to foster SME access to markets and urges the Commission to consider a set of further measures (...)
In light of the current COVID-19 circumstances and the already existing ambitious time table for the implementation, EFAMA calls for the EBA to carefully consider these circumstances and request the EC to postpone the date for the application of the IFD/IFR framework (26 June 2021) and the time table of the level 2 measures (such as the deadline of 26 December 2020 for providing drafted RTS and ITS).
EFAMA considers the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and its accompanying technical standards essential pieces in a strong and ambitious framework for sustainable investing. Its feedback aims at improving the effectiveness and feasibility of the ESAs’ proposal, as well as strengthening this regulation’s synergies with existing and upcoming rules.

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