Financing Growth:
Banking summit underlines sector commitment to growth

Banking summit underlines sector commitment to financing growth

• Former Eurogroup President Dijsselbloem reminds banks that there still is work to do

• EBF presents vision paper on financing the Europe of tomorrow

• Event continues at alternative location after evacuation from central bank

BRUSSELS, 28 September 2018 – The EBF staff team on Thursday managed to put the annual European Banking Summit back on track in less than two hours after some 300 delegates were evacuated from the auditorium of the Belgian central bank because a number of suspect devices were found. The summit, addressing how banks can finance growth, continued at the EBF Meeting Centre on Avenue des Arts. Belgium’s federal police is investigating the incident.

“Some people out there do not believe that banks can help society, finance growth and finance dreams. All the speakers today proved them wrong. The people who planted the alarm clocks are invited to register next time, and stay!” said Wim Mijs, Chief Executive Officer of the EBF.

Financing Growth

The conference saw the release of an EBF vision paper titled ‘Financing the Europe of Tomorrow’. The paper addresses how to meet Europe’s financing needs for the coming decades. European banks, with their diverse roles in bank and market financing, have a leading role in financing the Europe of tomorrow. Find the paper here:

The summit brought together the leadership of the banking sector with global and European public sector representatives. Among the key speakers were Jeroen Dijsselbloem, former President of the Eurogroup; Emma Navarro, Vice-President, European Investment Bank; and John Berrigan, Deputy Director General DG Fisma, European Commission. Among the bankers present was Frederic Oudea, CEO of Societe Generale and President of the EBF, as well as bank sector leaders from more than 30 countries in Europe.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, former president of the Eurogroup, which represents the Eurozone countries in the meetings of European finance ministers, delivered the keynote speech and addressed the challenges still facing the banking industry, even despite all the measures taken in recent years to stabilize the financial sector.  An audio file with his speech is available here.

Speaking to CNBC International at the summit, Dijsselbloem expressed his concern over the short- and long-term impact of Brexit on the European financial sector.

Christian Ossig, Chief Executive of the German banking association Bankenverband, presented the vision paper and said in a CNBC interview that EU policymakers need to do more to integrate the European banking market. Click here to listen.