The Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA), the trade body representing the largest sector of the financial services industry in Ireland, has responded positively to the European Commission’s Green Paper on Capital Markets Union (CMU).

CMU is a project to build a genuine single market for capital in the EU by 2019. The CMU forms part of the Commission’s “growth and jobs” agenda with the aim of promoting investment in Europe’s economy and is not intended to be a regulatory driven initiative. The intention is to address Europe’s overreliance on bank credit by boosting investment via capital markets which should result in improved access to finance for business.
 
Pat Lardner, CEO at the IFIA, says: “The IFIA is strongly supportive of the CMU initiative as a significant opportunity for the Irish funds industry. As a major investment fund domicile and fund servicing centre, Ireland can play a key role in the development, promotion and servicing of investment fund solutions to address the objectives of CMU.”