Written by Marcin Cesluk-Grajewski

On 18 February, the European Commission unveiled further details of its proposed Capital Markets Union (CMU), its flagship plan to strengthen the economy of the euro area and the European Union by making it easier for companies to raise money on stock and bond markets.
Publishing a Green Paper, the Commission launched a public consultation on its project to forge a truly single market for capital. It aims, among other things, at standardising prospectuses that companies publish to issue stocks and bonds, making it easier for investors to get credit information on small companies asking for cash, and facilitating securitisation, that is, pooling together various types of debt to create a new class of high-quality asset-backed financial instruments.
This note highlights a selection of recent studies, reports and commentaries by some of the major international think tanks and research institutes that analyse the question of the CMU.
Capital markets union in Europe: initial impressions Brookings Institution, February 23, 2015
Europe’s proposed capital markets union: Disruption will drive investment and innovation
VoxEU (CEPR), February 23, 2015
EU releases blueprint on capital markets union to unlock funding for growth
Science/Business, February 19, 2015
Which Union for Europe’s capital markets? Centre for European Policy Studies, February 13, 2015
Capital Markets Union – good idea, bad name Open Europe, February 18, 2015
Unlocking Europe’s capital markets union Centre for European Reform, October 15, 2014
Capital markets union: be careful what you wish for… NewFinancial, November 24, 2014
Defining Europe’s capital markets union Bruegel, November 13, 2014
Crowdfunding: broadening Europe’s capital markets Bruegel, October 10, 2014
Asset-backed securities: The key to unlocking Europe’s credit markets? Bruegel, July 24, 2014
Europe between financial repression and regulatory capture Bruegel, July 10, 2014
Other related publications
The reshaping of Europe’s financial system
The Peterson Institute for International Economics, January 5, 2015
Driving growth – the case for bigger and better capital markets NewFinancial, September, 2014
Achieving greater safety and efficiency in EU securities and derivative trading and post-trading
Eurofi, September, 2014
Stimulating EU corporate bond and equity markets Eurofi, September, 2014
Structural reform and resolution that aims to fundamentally change the ‘rules of the game’ that directs players into transforming the way they operate and make decisions with the aim of improving governance, infrastructure, controls, and culture will create an ecosystem in which all participants make fair and optimal market decisions based on sound risk management practices. As note in http://www.pwc.com/cm2020 I applaud the initiatives of the EU to achieve these goals.