1 October 2021 - Vilnius, Lithuania
The 8th International Financial Markets Conference, organized by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the European Court of Auditors and the Association of Lithuanian Banks, brings together policymakers and business practitioners in Lithuania for the thought-leadership and idea-exchange on financial markets.
The free movement of capital is a fundamental pillar of the European Union, along with the free movement of people, goods and services. In the EU, businesses traditionally rely primarily on bank financing. Nevertheless, strong capital markets offer businesses and citizens advantages such as diversified funding sources, investment opportunities and risk sharing. This also increases the resilience of the economy. Currently, there are significant geographical differences between Member States when it comes to the capitalisation, liquidity and depth of their local capital markets. Member States in the west and the north tend to have better developed capital markets and self-reinforcing capital hubs in comparison to Member States in the east and the south.
To provide alternative funding sources for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises and to mobilise private capital, the European Commission has been making efforts to supplement the Banking Union with a Capital Markets Union. Despite important progress made so far, some fundamentals, such as retail investor participation and financial literacy for SMEs, are still lacking. EU capital market integration remains insufficient due to cross-border barriers such as differing insolvency proceedings and the debt-equity bias.
EU institutions and bodies, governments, central banks, international institutions and the private sector have an important role to play in developing efficient capital markets throughout the Union. The recent commitment of the three Baltic States to create a regional pan-Baltic capital market is an important development in the Baltic’s progress towards further advanced economies. Combining and harmonising the Baltic capital markets, will offer banks and businesses better access to financing and instruments such as covered bonds, securitisations, and commercial papers. The bigger market will also increase the attractiveness as an investment destination, which should increase competitiveness, create jobs and strengthen resilience.
This conference will offer a forum for discussion about the needs of EU and Baltic capital markets and required action with high-level speakers and participants from EU institutions, Baltic Member States and the industry. Discussions will include consideration of recent policy efforts and the role of the public sector in improving the functioning of EU and Baltic capital markets.
For further information,
please visit the dedicated website.
