The European Union Roundtable of Financial Centres (EU-RFC) gathered in Frankfurt on 1 October 2025, bringing together representatives of Europe’s leading financial hubs to discuss shared priorities for strengthening the EU’s financial ecosystem at the service of an innovative and competitive EU economy. The agenda covered anti-financial crime, cybersecurity, the Savings and Investment Union, Open Finance and the EU Financial Data Access Regulation (FiDA), competitiveness, and other forward-looking issues.
Priorities of EU-RFC Members
Common priorities and challenges included the urgent need for streamlining and simplification of existing regulatory frameworks, as well as the recognition that geopolitical shifts and the growing risk of conflict in Europe are increasingly shaping the operating environment of financial centres. Members stressed that both, regulatory stability and competitiveness must be safeguarded in this volatile context, alongside the ongoing digital and green transitions.
Combating Financial Crime
Combating financial crime remains a foundational priority for safeguarding Europe’s financial stability and credibility.
Strong support was expressed for the swift and effective establishment of the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) in Frankfurt, accompanied by enhanced cooperation with national supervisors, with the view of harmonizing the implementation of EU AML-TF regulations across member states and sectors, as well as consumer protection as frauds attempts are fast growing in a digital financial world.
Participants highlighted the need for secure data-sharing mechanisms across financial centres, leveraging all available tools and resources to identify complex fraud and money-laundering patterns.
Cybersecurity
The discussion underscored cyber resilience as a systemic risk factor for the EU financial sector.
Members called for the harmonized implementation of DORA and the development of common metrics to assess cyber preparedness.
Growing risks from AI-enabled cyberattacks and quantum computing were noted, requiring a proactive EU-wide strategy.
Savings and Investment Union
Participants reaffirmed that mobilising savings for productive investment is essential to close Europe’s financing gap and support competitiveness. The revival of the EU securitisation market was again emphasised as critical for this, echoing the EU-RFC’s February 2025 position paper. Participants welcomed the Securitisation reform package tabled by the Commission in June, while warning that targeted adjustments are needed to ensure appropriate risk sensitivity and a true revival of the market.
Calls were made to simplify access for retail investors and SMEs, broaden long-term investment opportunities, and align tax and supervisory frameworks across Member States.
Members welcome the upcoming proposals by the Commission on financial literacy, the Savings and Investments Account and the other proposals that should be issued by the end of 2024 under the SIU roadmap. Participants agreed that without faster progress by the Council and Parliament to transform those proposals into concrete action, Europe risks deepening the competitiveness gap identified in the Draghi and Letta Reports.
Open Finance
The session, held in coordination with the European Digital Finance Association (EDFA), highlighted both opportunities and risks of the forthcoming Financial Data Access Regulation.
Members welcomed the potential of Open Finance to foster innovation, cross-border services, and SME financing.
Concerns were raised about fragmentation, scope of data, and compliance costs if standards are not harmonized.
Members also took note of the Danish Presidency’s direction of work in the trilogue negotiations, which emphasizes simplification, proportionality, clearer definitions and limits on historical data. These efforts aim to reduce adjustment costs, support smaller market participants, and ensure a more effective and balanced FIDA framework.
Stablecoins
A discussion was held on the growing role of stablecoins in global finance. Members noted the dominance of USD-denominated stablecoins poses challenges for European monetary sovereignty and competitiveness. At the same time, new initiatives by European banking consortia to issue euro-denominated stablecoins and tokenised deposits under MiCA were highlighted as a way to strengthen the international role of the euro and support European payment solutions. Participants underlined the need for further work in this area to balance financial stability risks with the opportunities for innovation and competitiveness. As a first step, the Roundtable members plan to host a webinar with stablecoin experts from its communities to better understand the long-term implications of a broader stablecoin usage in Europe. Roundtable member Frankfurt Main Finance will host the webinar as part of its “Food for thought” series.
EU Competitiveness
Competitiveness was identified as a cross-cutting theme throughout the meeting.
Members urged systematic competitiveness checks in all new EU legislation and making competitiveness EU-wide an objective for regulators. Ineffective regulation that puts form over substance and cumulative compliance costs were recognised as significant risks for Europe’s attractiveness compared to other global hubs.
The Roundtable called for a pro-growth EU regulatory agenda, balancing stability with innovation. Participants also stressed the importance of ensuring ideally equivalence, but at least mutual acceptance between European and international standards, to avoid regulatory fragmentation, reduce compliance burdens, and preserve the global competitiveness of EU financial institutions.
Image source: WAIFC
