Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES—Commissioner Uyeda discusses trends in the evolution of European capital markets, (Jun 18, 2026)
Uyeda said Europeans rely on banks more than Americans and he urged Europeans to expand capital markets for savers to deploy funds in higher return investments.
Speaking to an audience at the 4th US-CEE Connection Weekend held in Kraków, Poland, SEC Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda remarked on the progress that Poland and other former Soviet satellite states have made in developing free markets since the fall of the Berlin Wall while also outlining a next stage of development that is even more dependent on capital markets than was the decades-long early-stage financial transformation of central and eastern Europe.
For Uyeda, the path forward in central and eastern Europe is to convince Europeans to tap capital markets more frequently than banks.
Uyeda explained, with reference to a recent report on European competitiveness released by former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, that Europeans generally rely more on bank deposits than do many Americans. In the U.S., said Uyeda, people are more likely to engage with riskier investments through capital markets and rely less on bank deposits. Uyeda noted that Europeans tend to save more than Americans, but that they do not deploy their savings into higher risk/higher return investments.
According to Uyeda, Europe generally should follow the lead of the U.S. (at least the current Administration) regarding easing burdens on businesses. Uyeda specifically cited the SEC’s plans to rescind the climate disclosure regulation adopted during the Biden Administration. He said Europeans had taken a somewhat parallel path by easing several continental sustainability initiatives. Uyeda suggested that these steps can reduce burdens especially for startup companies.
“That points to a larger truth: capital does not stand still,” said Uyeda. “When regulators fail to provide an optimal framework, market participants do not wait around—they go to where the rules work, and when they do, investors lose and competition suffers.”
A key point, according to Uyeda, is that a bank-driven system is so risk-averse that innovation cannot take hold. By contrast, Uyeda suggested that an economy that also has vibrant capital markets can foster greater innovation because innovators and investors are aligned in seeking success and in accepting the risk of failure.
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