Publications
& Policy

Invest Europe, on behalf of the PAE and in conjunction with a global group of PE/VC associations, has responded to the OECD's consultation on the Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal (“GloBE”) (Pillar Two).

In this response, we expressed concerns with the imposition, as part of the Market Abuse Regulation review, of overly cumbersome administrative and reporting requirements on infrequent recipients of market soundings such as private equity firms.

The EuVECA voluntary passport is becoming more and more popular for venture capital fund managers, most of whom operate below the required threshold for AIFMD compliance. 

The Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and Directive (MiFID II), referred to in this Guide as “MiFID”, are in force since January 2018.

In recent years, tax transparency has become a key issue for the EU and more broadly for international policymakers. There are several policy initiatives which are of particular relevance from a private equity perspective.

The idea of introducing a European Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) became popular in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. However, a formal proposal in 2011 for a pan-European FTT failed to get unanimous backing from EU countries. Eleven member states decided to continue discussions on the project, although progress has been very slow. A new Franco-German push did generate headlines and new political momentum behind the European FTT plan in 2019.

The EU Insolvency Directive is important for the convergence of restructuring laws in Europe. In short, the rules stipulate what must be done when a portfolio company is struggling financially. The EU last updated insolvency rules during the last parliament as part of the Capital Markets Union project.

In this response we stress our concerns with the proposed Delegated Regulation defining the conditions for use of the different approaches to determine the market risk of a bank's investment in private equity.

On behalf of the PAE, Invest Europe responded to the consultation on the 'Unified Approach' under Pillar One of the OECD's digital tax work.

The H1 2019 activity data report provides a semi-annual review of fundraising, investment and divestment trends for European private equity and venture capital activity. Please note that this data is preliminary and subject to change.

Many other industry associations, international organisations and financial institutions share Invest Europe's focus on ESG. They regularly produce standards and other materials relating to responsible investment in the private equity industry. A wide selection of these is available in our Responsible Investment Bibliography.

The “Capital Markets Union-Key Performance Indicators” report is the second edition in a series of annual reports which measures the level of capital markets integration in the EU and tracks the development of an EU financial ecosystem.

The report assesses the EU’s progress against 8 key performance indicators, as well as providing an industry perspective on some of the challenges and barriers that might impede its development.

As the economy becomes increasingly global, so the response to tax avoidance is also moving onto an international stage, with the OECD emerging as the leading organisation for creating new standards. Supporting its position, the EU is also taking action to address aggressive tax avoidance and improve global tax good governance.

The European Union has established three supervisory authorities (ESAs) in the financial sector: the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) as well as a macroprudential supervisor, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).