Set up in mid-May, the Next CMU HLG is part of a joint initiative by the German, French and Dutch finance ministers aimed at making proposals to deepen CMU and address the new challenges facing the EU, particularly in relation to the green transition and the fact that Brexit will cause Europe to lose its primary financial centre. The three initially appointed experts have now been joined by others from Spain, Italy, Poland and Sweden. The interim report released in late July will be followed by a final report, due to be published as this newsletter went to press.

AMAFI, represented by Stéphane Giordano and Bertrand de Saint Mars, met with Fabrice Demarigny, France’s HLG expert, to share the association’s thinking on these issues. Naturally, AMAFI’s views reflect work being done in this area with the policy think-tank CEPS, whose initial outlines were presented at the recent Eurofi gathering (AMAFI / 19-88).