(Finance) – “The economy of the European Union is comparable in size to that of the United States, but on the contrary, the capitalization of European markets is significantly lower: equal to only 66% of the Eurozone’s GDP, compared to 188% for the American one. Consequently, the weight of the European stock exchanges on the global capitalization is equal to only 13%, while the American stock exchanges represent 50%”. Massimo Mociopresident of Assiom Forex, during the annual congress of the association of financial market operators, underway in Genoa.
“Unfortunately, we are going in the opposite direction – he explained – capital raising through IPOs has drastically decreased in 2023, not only due to contingent factors: there is a clear trend underway, which sees a increase in the number of European companies interested in listing abroad“.
“Among the underlying drivers of this trend is the potential for higher fundraising and higher valuation growth in US markets, which benefit from a large pool of capital from international investors,” according to Mocio, and therefore “the importance of scale in capital markets is more relevant than everbut European markets remain extremely fragmented.”
“There liquidity is divided on the individual national stock exchangesmaking them less competitive and attractive: essentially, the infrastructure that allows European companies to reach the critical mass necessary to compete on a global level is missing”, he underlined.
30 years after the establishment of the internal market and 25 years after the entry into force of the euro, “the time has come for the European Union to accelerate the necessary structural transformationsto ensure robust and sustainable growth in the long term,” he argued.
“Specific investigations are underway on the topics of “competitiveness and growth” and the “Capital Markets Union” – requested by the European Commission, and entrusted, among other things, to two illustrious Italians; as market operators we are actively collaborating for the success of these initiatives”, said Mocio.
“As far as the digital transition is concerned, we are already positively impressed by the fact that Europe has already acquired a leading position leadership in defining rules on the digitalisation of the financial system: through the Digital Finance Package – which includes the Artificial Intelligence Regulation – the Pilot Regime and the MICAR (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation),” he added.