The Capital Market Council Starts Work: It Will Expand Opportunities for Business and Investors
Today, the Capital Market Council, established at the initiative of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Lithuania, which unites the public and private sectors, officially started its activities. It will ensure a dialogue between market participants and public authorities, and will be responsible for the general strategy of the Lithuanian capital market development and the formation of a unified position at the level of the European Union.
"Together with market participants and authorities, we have provided measures in the Capital Market Development Guidelines that will increase investment and saving opportunities for both residents and investors and will allow for the creation of additional sources of financing for business, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. It is the Capital Market Council that will ensure the implementation of these goals and form a clear direction for the development of the capital market. This will contribute to the creation of a high added value economy and will strengthen the position of Lithuania as an advanced and competitive state in the international arena," said Vice-Minister of Finance Vaida Markevičienė.
According to the Vice-Minister, the Lithuanian regulated market after the 2009 crisis has shrunk and has not yet recovered, but despite its current size, the number of market participants and investors, it has a great potential that needs to be exploited. For this purpose, the Capital Market Development Guidelines have been created and the Capital Market Council is being established. Successfully functioning capital markets improve business opportunities to obtain long-term financing, increase the variety of savings and investment tools for the population, and simultaneously contribute to economic growth.
"The Capital Market Council is another example of cooperation between the public and private sectors. We aimed for it to include as many representatives of different fields as possible, each of whom would develop the issues of the field they represent and see the overall progress. This is necessary so that the development of the capital market is consistent across the entire spectrum of measures and properly managed, and legislative changes necessary for progress are initiated on a centralised basis," says Gediminas Šimkus, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.
The Council will ensure the implementation of the recommendations provided for in the Capital Market Development Guidelines, prepare specific recommendations for the solution of problematic issues of the Lithuanian capital market, implementation of policy measures and directions and provide them to the authorities.
The aim of the Council is to shape the development direction of the Lithuanian capital market, to create conditions for the development of a dialogue with market participants and public authorities, in order to achieve sustainable growth of the capital market.
The Guidelines include 7 priorities: establishing the Capital Market Council, improving the legal and tax environment, increasing the supply of new financial products, promoting the activity and infrastructure of AB Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange, increasing competition between financial intermediaries and increasing financial education. Recommendations are offered for each of these priorities, which will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to attract financing by issuing securities, will allow to increase the diversity of financial products traded on the capital market, expand the possibilities of pension funds to invest in a wider range of financial market instruments, and add more securities to the trading lists of the stock exchange.
The composition of the Council: Vaida Markevičienė (Vice-Minister of Finance, Chairperson of the Capital Market Council); Simonas Krėpšta (Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Deputy Chairman of the Capital Market Council); Ieva Valeškaitė (Vice-Minister of Economy and Innovation); Saulius Malinauskas (AB Nasdaq Vilnius); Viktorija Trimbel (Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance); Mindaugas Vaičiulis (Association of Financial Analysts); Eivilė Čipkutė (Lithuanian Banking Association); Alius Jakubėlis (Lithuanian Financial Brokers Association); Tomas Talutis (Lithuanian Investment Managers’ Association); Tadas Gudaitis (Lithuanian Investment and Pension Funds’ Association); Gerda Sakalauskaitė (Lithuanian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association); Vytautas Šenavičius (Lithuanian Peer-to-Peer Lending and Crowdfunding Association); Audrius Žakas (Nasdaq CSD Vilnius); Inga Langaitė (Unicorns Lithuania Association); Eglė Neverbickienė (Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists).
Last updated: 13-02-2023
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