29 Apr, 2024
Key Takeaways and Look Ahead from the 2024 AFME Spanish Capital Markets Conference
By Ben Meggeson
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe’s (AFME) Spanish Capital Markets Conference 2024 took place in Madrid on April 18, with delegates from Spain’s central bank and ministry of finance, and from Spain and Europe’s biggest banks, insurers, rating agencies and law firms gathering to discuss the latest developments in fixed-income and equity markets.
Following a keynote address from Eva Maria Poptcheva, member, vice chair, European Parliament and Committee of Economic and Monetary Affairs outlining the need to act on the EU’s Capital Markets Union project, a series of panel discussions touched on fixed-income and equity markets, the burgeoning significant risk transfer space, NPL markets, ESG, leveraged finance, the impact of AI on capital markets. Panel participants spoke about the increasing role of private markets, the growing divide between the scale of US versus EU capital markets, the appetite for securitizations, and the challenges and opportunities for investors in significant risk transfers.
S&P Global Market Intelligence moderated a panel discussion on the Impacts of Basel 3 on Banks & Markets, where speakers from the Spanish central bank and finance ministry, together with Banco Santander, BBVA and AFME emphasized the need for regulation that minimizes risks but gives lenders and markets the space they need to operate to their full potential. It was agreed that banks proved to have resilient capital and liquidity amid the market panic prompted by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the rushed takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, but that going forward, banks and regulatory authorities need to continue to work closely together.
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