The Future of Equities
Policymakers have concentrated on getting money to businesses to bridge their funding gap through the pandemic and to strengthen the subsequent economic recovery. Most of this funding has taken place through loans and other debt. Debt is effective because it is quick and effective, but it generates side-effects: more debt means a worsening of a companies’ credit rating overtime limiting the ability to obtain new funding. Time is also of the essence if we are not to hold back companies from using the right form of finance without impacting of their ability to fund themselves post crisis.
To avoid the problem of leverage and indebtedness, companies need to raise equity. Despite all the focus, over recent years, the record of European Union companies raising Equities through either Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) or further offerings is very poor. Over the last quarter there were just 10 IPO’s across the European Union which is poor in comparison to both historical times and other parts of the World.
The European Commission have long realised the need to improve European Capital Markets and have delivered 12 of actions announced under the 2015 Capital Market Union (CMU) action plan covering not just equities markets but other related markets. In June the High-Level Forum published its final report on CMU setting out recommendations aimed at removing the biggest barriers in the EU’s capital markets. The Commission will look again at MiFID II/MiFIR next year to taking stock and assessing what areas are in need of an overhaul.
The existence of liquid secondary equity markets is essential condition for developed IPO markets. Secondary markets are the main exit strategy for any investors in IPOs and therefore the higher the secondary market liquidity, the higher the investor appetite for IPOs.
This webinar will look at what should policymakers do to improve the ability of companies to use European equity markets. Have these factors changed at all post COVID-19? How important is secondary market liquidity for potential investors in IPOs? The speakers will discuss different measures, policy solutions, what works best in practice and also the decisions that corporates are often faced with when deciding whether and where to raise equity, or not as the case maybe.
- Webinar link: https://zoom.us/j/92287448304
Date
- Expired!
Time
CET
Organiser
Daniel Trinder
Phone
+32473190128Senior Policy Adviser
Other Organizers
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Luca Giusti
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Phone
+32471915475 -
Email
Luca.Giusti@aforeconsulting.eu -
Consultant
Speakers
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Alasdair HaynesCEO, Aquis Exchange PLCAlasdair Haynes, CEO, Aquis Exchange PLC
Alasdair is the founder and CEO of Aquis Exchange PLC. The Company, which is listed on AIM, is a leading exchange services group. It operates a pan-European MTF business (Aquis Exchange) covering stocks from 14 European countries and also develops and licenses exchange software and services to third parties (Aquis Technologies). In March 2020, Aquis acquired the primary listings business NEX Exchanged and rebranded it Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE).
Alasdair is the former CEO of Chi-X Europe and was responsible for growing the business into Europe’s largest equities exchange and into profitability before its sale in late 2011. Prior to that, he spent 11 years heading up ITG’s international business, pioneering the introduction of electronic trading and crossing into the European and Asian marketplaces. Alasdair began his 30 plus-year career in the City with Morgan Grenfell and has held senior positions at a number of investment banks including HSBC and UBS. -
Jonathan HaynesSenior Consultant, OxeraJonathan Haynes is a Senior Consultant at Oxera Consulting LLP. He advises governments, regulators and firms in the financial services sector, where he applies his skills in corporate finance, regulation, asset pricing and competition policy. Jonathan has managed a number of studies relating to equity markets in recent years across markets, in Europe and overseas. Most recently, he managed Oxera’s study on the design of primary and secondary equity markets in the EU for the European Commission.
Before joining Oxera, Jonathan worked at the European Commission as a financial economist in the Financial Markets and Infrastructure unit of the Directorate General of Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) and then as a policy expert in the Capital Markets Union unit of the Directorate General of Financial Stability, Financial Markets and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA). Prior to this, he worked in the UK Government Economic Service, HM Treasury and the Committee on Climate Change, on policy issues relating to banking policy, climate change and pensions. He also spent time teaching undergraduate corporate finance at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and conducting research at the Barcelona Center for Banking Studies. He holds degrees in economics and finance from the University of Bath and the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
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Sébastien Raspiller
Assistant Secretary, Head of the Financial Sector Department, French Treasury
Sébastien RaspillerAssistant Secretary, Head of the Financial Sector Department, French Treasury -
Simon GallagherHead of Cash and Derivatives, EuronextSimon Gallagher is Head of Cash and Derivatives at Euronext, with overall P&L responsibility for these activities, including the product offer, market model, client strategy and liquidity programmes. He is a member of the Extended Managing Board of Euronext. Prior to this role, he held several positions within Euronext in Corporate Finance and Strategy, and occupied various roles in the oil and gas sector. He is a CFA charter-holder who holds an MBA from the University of Birmingham and a degree in Economics from the University of Surrey.
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Tilman LuederHead Securities Markets Unit, DG FISMA, European CommissionTilman Lüder holds a doctorate in law from the University of Tübingen.
Before joining the European Commission in 1999, Tilman was as an associate in Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP. He worked on European and German antitrust and merger control issues.
His first job in the Commission was that of a case manager dealing with antitrust and state aid cases in the area of post and telecommunications in the Directorate General for Competition.
In 2002, he became the spokesperson to Commissioner Mario Monti, responsible for Competition, a position he successfully held until being appointed, in 2005, Head of the Copyright Unit of Directorate General for the Internal Market (DG MARKT).
He pursued his career to become Head of the Asset Management Unit (2011-2015) in DG MARKT, later the Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA).
As of September 2015, Tilman heads the Securities Markets Unit in DG FISMA.