Financing Growth:
EBF hosts European Banking Summit

Financing Growth: EBF hosts European Banking Summit

• Former Eurogroup President Dijsselbloem delivers keynote
• New EBF paper underlines need for diverse financing in Europe

BRUSSELS, 25 September 2018 – Under the title ‘Financing Growth’ the European Banking Federation on Thursday will host its 2018 European Banking Summit in Brussels. The event is the federation’s annual high-level conference and this year takes place at the Belgian central bank’s auditorium.

The summit brings together the leadership of the banking sector with global and European public sector representatives. Among the key speakers are Jeroen Dijsselbloem, former President of the Eurogroup; Emma Navarro, Vice-President, European Investment Bank; and John Berrigan, DG Fisma, European Commission.

The conference also sees the release of a new EBF vision paper, titled ‘Financing the Europe of Tomorrow’, that 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.

Says Wim Mijs, Chief Executive Officer of the EBF:

“European banks are more committed than ever to the EU’s projects of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union, delivering a fully-integrated financial union to overcome the considerable economic and political challenges of our times.  To be able to continue fulfilling their role successfully, banks need an efficient regulatory and policy environment that ensures a level playing field and growth-enabling conditions both at European and national levels.”

With the vision paper the EBF wants to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by Europe in financing economic growth and of the role of banks in Europe’s economy.  Companies in Europe still rely on banks for some 70 percent of their total external financing. Banks also finance the needs of private individuals and households throughout their life-cycle.

Europe’s investment gap is estimated at about €700 billion per year, of which €180 billion per year is the climate gap. These needs can only be met if more sources of private sector financing become available, with longer term investments to accommodate the ageing population and a larger availability of risk capital to finance innovation.

Media notice:

A copy of the ‘Financing the Europe of Tomorrow’ is available under embargo for publication at 11 CET on Thursday 27 September. Various interview opportunities are available at the European Banking Summit. If you are interested contact the EBF Mediacentre through Nahuel Mercedes, Communications Officer, +32 474 981361, n.mercedes@ebf.eu, or via Raymond Frenken, Head of Communications, at +32 496 525947, r.frenken@ebf.eu.

About the EBF:

The European Banking Federation is the voice of the European banking sector, bringing together national banking associations from 45 countries. The EBF is committed to a thriving European economy that is underpinned by a stable, secure and inclusive financial ecosystem, and to a flourishing society where financing is available to fund the dreams of citizens, businesses and innovators everywhere. Website: www.ebf.eu Twitter: @EBFeu.