Alexandru Petrescu, President of Romania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), will deliver a keynote address at the Hellenic Capital Market Commission Symposium 2026 in Athens on September 9, where regulators, policymakers and market leaders will discuss the future of European capital markets.
Petrescu will participate in a session focused on the Future of European Capital Markets and the Savings and Investments Union, highlighting the role of deeper and more integrated capital markets in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and financing sustainable economic growth.
“The Savings and Investments Union can become one of the key instruments for strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and its capacity to finance sustainable economic growth,” Petrescu said ahead of the event.
From Romania’s perspective, the debate comes at an important stage in the development of the domestic capital market, which has gained significant momentum in recent years. Petrescu said the next phase should focus on improving liquidity, encouraging broader retail participation and expanding companies’ access to capital.
“Our capital market has gained significant momentum, while the next stage of development requires deeper liquidity, broader retail participation, stronger access to capital for companies and a more effective connection between domestic savings and productive investment,” he said.
The Savings and Investments Union could play an important role in accelerating these developments, provided that European integration delivers concrete benefits across markets of different sizes, according to Petrescu.
“The Savings and Investments Union can accelerate this process, provided that European integration works in practice for markets of every size and that common rules translate into tangible opportunities for issuers and investors across all Member States,” he said.
Petrescu stressed that greater European integration should complement and strengthen national capital markets rather than undermine them, while investor protection and market confidence should remain central to the process.
“European scale should strengthen local markets, while investor protection, proportionality and confidence must remain at the heart of this transformation,” Petrescu said.
The Athens symposium is expected to provide an opportunity for regulators and market participants to exchange views on how European capital markets can become deeper, more competitive and more accessible, while supporting innovation, investment and long-term economic growth.
“I look forward to the discussions in Athens and to exchanging views with fellow regulators and market leaders on how we can build deeper, more competitive and more accessible European capital markets, capable of supporting innovation, investment and long-term prosperity,” Petrescu said.