The third edition of our Capital Markets seminar “Focus on Europe” took place on 14 and 15 June, for the first time co-organised by the European Commission, who joined the EIB and the European Stability Mechanism, who already teamed up last year, after EIB established the event 3 years ago.
More than 700 participants joined this two-day event representing 33 different countries, a substantial increase on last year.
The program covered macroeconomic themes, innovation in capital markets as well as the role of sustainable finance in the economic recovery.
The seminar was opened by a panel on High Level Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Recovery with EIB President Werner Hoyer, Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Budget and Administration, and Klaus Regling, Managing Director, European Stability Mechanism. The closing keynote speaker, Mariana Mazzucato, an academic from UCL, gave a talk about the Economics of Innovation.
The first day included dialogue with the CEO of SocGen on the Role of Banks in Financing the Recovery, debate among economists on Recovery and Resilience, and NextGeneration EU – a game changer for EU capital markets. These were followed by the panel discussion on Sustainable Capital Markets responding to the new EU regulatory measures. Columbia academic Anu Bradford closed the day with a speech on EU influence via law and regulation - The Brussels effect: How the EU rules the world.
The second day focused on funding and investor perspectives, with a dedicated panels for Investors and Funding teams from the 3 hosts, as well as presentations by ESM on their dual role as investor and issuer and the EIB on its recent innovation with Blockchain bond issuance.