Renewed Capital Market Council continues its activities with new objectives
At its last meeting this year, the Capital Market Council (CMC) decided to continue its activities, discussed the progress of capital market development plans, identified goals for the near future, and approved new the main representatives of full and associate members.
In November 2022, the Government approved the Guidelines for Capital Market Development 2023-2025, and the CMC, established on the initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Lithuania, was first set up to oversee the implementation of the Guidelines. Thus, formally, after three years, the Council could be dissolved, but the meeting unanimously decided to continue its activities.
"I am glad that it was decided to continue the activities of the Council, which proved to be an excellent format for lively and meaningful discussions, where investors, brokers, intermediaries and other market participants have the opportunity to directly interact with financial market policy makers, improve the overall strategy for the development of the Lithuanian capital market and form a unified position at the European Union level", says Vice-Minister of Finance Januš Kizenevič, who chaired the Council meeting, stated.
“The Capital Market Council format has worked, and we are determined to continue our work. One of them is to develop new guidelines for the development of the capital market, taking into account the fast-growing bond and crowdfunding markets, the growing number of retail investors. We want to look at the development of the capital market from the perspective of the retail investor: a variety of investment tools, whether investing is simple and convenient. Intense discussions await, which I hope will turn into real solutions and help to promote the country's capital market", Marius Skuodis, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, notes.
The meeting reviewed the progress of implementing the 2025 recommendations and the most important work done.
Among the most important achievements were the adoption of amendments to the laws on the investment of pension funds in alternative investments, the implementation of some of the planned amendments to the Law on Companies, the entry into force of the Investment Savings Account (ISA) model and the technical implementation of the ISA tax regime, and the launch of the ILTE Baltic Capital Markets Acceleration Fund. At the autumn session, the Seimas is also considering an initiative on the withdrawal of a spouse's authorisation for the sale of securities.
When preparing the Guidelines for Capital Market Development 2026-2028, it was decided to assess, by 1 March of the following year, which existing or unimplemented guidelines should be continued, updated or revised to better reflect today’s realities and market needs.
New representatives of full and associate members of the CMC were approved at the meeting. These are Januš Kizenevič, Vice-Minister of Finance, Marius Skuodis, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Inga Steponavičienė, Chancellor of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation. The Lithuanian Financial Brokers Association appointed Marius Jurgilas as the main representative.
The purpose of the Capital Market Council is to ensure cooperation between capital market participants (service providers and consumers) as well as public authorities that formulate and implement capital market policies, promoting the development and progress of the capital market. The Council is composed of representatives of public authorities and private sector associations.