At the Banking Congress 2024 in Berlin, Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has called for substantial progress on deepening capital markets union. In his speech today, Scholz said that banks and international financial investors were willing to invest but were too often prevented from doing so because the capital markets in Europe are organised at the national level. He said that given the high investment demand, this was vitally important “for the future of Europe and our competitiveness”. Scholz also called for greater harmonisation of national regimes on insolvency legislation, more common standards on tax, the harmonisation of capital market supervision and a strengthening of the securitisation market in order to finance the real economy. He emphasised that the German government was working with the French government on concrete proposals for all these points.
Banks are “part of the solution”
Furthermore, the Chancellor praised the development of the banking sector since the financial crisis in 2008. In contrast to back then, banks today are “not part of the problem, they are part of the solution,” he said. For example, financial institutions provided financing and liquidity during the coronavirus pandemic and therefore made a significant contribution to overcoming the crisis. However, the financial sector is not only there to put out the fires in a crisis. “Without an efficient financial sector, the transformation will not happen – everyone needs to be aware of that,” said Scholz. It is therefore also a matter of strengthening Germany as a financial location.
Videos from the Banking Congress
