Speakers
Chair
Carmine Di Noia
Director of Financial and Enterprise Affairs Directorate - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Public Authorities
Benoît de Juvigny
Secretary General - Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF)
Alain Godard
Chief Executive Officer - European Investment Fund (EIF)
Märten Ross
Advisor, ECOFIN & EFC - Ministry of Finance, Estonia
Gerassimos Thomas
Director General - DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission
Industry Representatives
Sophie Javary
Vice-Chairman CIB EMEA - BNP Paribas
Petr Koblic
Chief Executive Officer - Prague Stock Exchange & FESE
Vincent Remay
Advisor to the Chairman - Tradition
Other stakeholder & expert
Gerben Everts
Executive Director - European Investors' Association
Objectives of the session
This session will first discuss the current trends in terms of SME equity funding and IPOs in the EU, future prospects in the current macro-economic environment and the importance for the European economy of further developing equity financing in Europe.
Secondly, the panel will assess more specifically the obstacles to equity financing and company listing in the EU, the priorities to be considered in the context of the Listing Act proposal for tackling these issues and the impact that can be expected from DEBRA for addressing the debt / equity fiscal bias.
Points of discussion
- Current state of the EU SME equity market and equity funding needs: What are the current trends in SME equity funding and of the IPO market in Europe? What is the extent of the current equity funding gap and its consequences for the funding of EU enterprises and the green and digital transitions? How is the situation expected to evolve with current changes in the macro-economic and monetary environment?
- Current obstacles to SME listing and the priorities for the upcoming Listing Act: What are the main obstacles that hinder SME listings in the EU? What measures are needed to support the EU IPO market? What are the priorities to be addressed in the context of the EU Listing Act initiative?
- Issues raised by the debt/equity tax bias and how they may be addressed by the DEBRA proposal: How significant an obstacle to equity issuance is the debt-equity taxation bias? Do the proposals made by the Commission in the context of the DEBRA initiative tackle the main issues posed by the current taxation rules and does the DEBRA proposal adopt the most adequate mechanism for alleviating them?