Banking and financial services (2025)

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  Home
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  Financial services and banking
  
  What the EU does
  
  Finance is essential for our economy and for the wellbeing of European citizens. Whether you are paying in a shop, saving for the future, investing in sustainable projects, or running a business, you need a financial system that works andthatyoucantrust.
  The EU is working to build a stable financial system and to ensure that people have trust in the financial sector. To this end, we are fighting market misconduct and financial crime. We also impose sanctions whenneeded to prevent conflicts or respond to crises outside the EU.
  Together with Member States and the European Parliament, we shape the rules for financial services in theEU, so that markets work well, and you can pay, save, invest or get insured with confidence. Once therules are agreed on, we make sure that they work in practice andareimplementedproperly.
  
  We are implementing measures to develop a savings and investments union, a vital project for the EU’s competitiveness and growth. It aims to foster a more integrated and dynamic capital market and to mobilise private capital into productive investments for the benefits of citizens and businesses.
  We constantly monitor new risks to financial stability, consumer protection or market integrity, so we can react quickly when needed. We also support the digital transformation of financial services, while mitigating potential risks. We collaborate closely with other EU supervisory authoritiesand international bodies, because the EU is connected to the global financial system.
  Our key objectives are to:
  advance the savings and investments union to better connect savings and productive businesses
  empower Europeans to take well‑informed financialdecisions
  build an EUsingle market for capital with appropriate regulation andhigh‑quality financialreporting, while minimising the administrative burden on companies
  create a robust regulatory and supervisory framework for banks, insurers andpensionfunds
  create tools and policies for the financial sector that help theEU reach itsclimateand environmental goals
  enable the financial sector to reap the benefits of digitalisation while managing itsrisks
  fight money laundering and terrorist financing, and impose sanctions when needed
  advance international regulatory cooperation onallfinancialmatters
  
  Areas of action
  Regulation and supervision
  See Also
  TNB Announces Dividend and First-Quarter 2025 Financial Results
  The EU has introduced a specific regulatory process for financial services. Learn more about it.
  Savings and Investments Union
  The Savings and Investments Union is the EU’s plan to unlock funding for Europe’s growth. Find out what the EU is doing.
  Banking and banking union
  Explore how the banking union ensures that EU banks are stronger and better supervised.
  Insurance and pension funds
  Find out more about EU action on insurance and pension funds.
  Sustainable finance
  Read more on how the EU integrates sustainability into its financial policy.
  Digital finance
  Learn how the EU enables the financial sector to benefit from new technologies.
  Consumer finance and payments
  Find out how the EU empowers consumers to make informed financial decisions.
  Financial crime
  Explore the EU’s sanctions policy and efforts to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.
  EU and the world
  Discover how the EU works with its international partners on financial regulation and capital movement.
  
  Key achievements
  Following the financial crisis, the EU improved its financial supervision system to make the regulatory process in financial services quicker andmoreeffective.
  The Listing Act will make EUpublic capital markets more attractive and make it easier for companies of all sizes, including SMEs, to list on European stockexchanges.
  New prudential rules as part of the banking package are helping banks stay resilient duringeconomicuncertainty, in line with international standards.
  The EU has updated rules to strengthen theinsurance regulatoryframework, while allowing insurers to invest more in the real economy.
  The EU has become a global leader in digital finance with theMarkets in Crypto-assets Regulation, the first comprehensive set of rules forcryptocurrencies.
  The anti-money laundering package established a single set of rules and a new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority, to strengthen market integrity and prevent and detect financialcrime more effectively.
  In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, theEU has adopted sanctions to weaken Russia's economic base, limiting its access to critical technologies and markets, and significantly reducing its ability towagewar.
  
  In focus
  
  Savings and investments union
  The savings and investments union aims to create better financial opportunities for EU citizens, while enhancing our financial system’s capability to connect savings with productive investments.
  This will lead to more choices for savers who wish to grow their household wealth and allow businesses across Europe to grow. It covers four strands of work:
  citizens and savings
  investment and financing
  integration and scale
  efficient supervision in the Single Market.
  Read more
  
  Latest
  
  Newsletter
  28 April 2025
  The EU banking sector
  4 min read
  Newsletter
  16 April 2025
  EU securitisation market
  3 min read
  More news
  
  Events
  
  12Jun2025
  Conferences and summits
  European financial integration: Advancing the savings andinvestmentsunion
  See more events
  
  Related links
  
  Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union
  Call for tenders
  Public consultations
  
  See Also
  Lobbying Update: $50,000 of THE HARTFORD FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP INC. lobbying was just disclosed Trust & Will Secures $4.5 Million Investment from Curql to Expand Estate Planning for Credit Union Members, Bringing Series C Funding to $32M+5 tech trends to stay on top of wealth management services inside the bank Orrstown Financial Services Q1 Non-GAAP EPS, Revenue Rise

Banking and financial services (2025)

What the EU does

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In focus

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