PCS was honoured to receive Mr Hatzidakis, the Finance Minister of Greece, as the keynote speaker at our Athens symposium last week together with Dr Lazarakou, Chair of the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission. Mr Hatzidakis shared his views on how securitisation had been a vital component of the Hellenic Republic's financial recovery after the devastating blows that followed the sovereign crisis of 2012. In particular, the minister spoke of the Hercules program, devised and piloted by the former deputy finance minister, Mr George Zavvos who also was kind enough to participate in the PCS symposium. The minister explained how Greek banks, first through the Hercules program and then through their continued use of synthetic securitisations, were able to return to health. Mr Hatzidakis also shared his views on the importance of building out a European capital markets union and the essential role securitisation had to play in that endeavour. This was a timely intervention as European capitals ponder future moves on securitisation regulation in that it emphasised securitisation's capacity to assist and strengthen the banking system of any European member state. As such, it does much to dispel the view sometimes voiced that securitisation is a financial channel relevant only to nations with large global banks. You can read Mr Hatzidakis' speech in full here. Dr Lazarakou, who also chairs the securitisation committee of the Joint-Committee of the ESAs, shared with us the perspective of European securities regulators on possible future approaches to securitisation regulation, emphasising the need for proportionality.
Created by Proformat
