Time for a Transformation in the Financial Services Industry

It is time for the financial industry to blend EU regulatory advocacy with communication campaigns, and DGA Group can help.

By Raphael Delli

The financial services industry must adapt to its evolving landscape to make a significant impact. This requires expanding its reach beyond financial services and sharing perspectives on the geopolitical landscape. DGA’s expertise can facilitate this transition.

Until 2020, the European financial industry was, paradoxically, in an ideal situation. Finance had been a priority for EU leaders for over a decade. Financial firms and their associations became experts in regulatory advocacy, engaging with decision-makers and regulators familiar with their industries, values, and language. Data, expertise, and connectivity with a relatively limited number of institutions (DG FISMA, the ECON Committee, the ESAs, the ECB, and key treasuries) were the core focus. In this environment, the emphasis was primarily on technical content and impact, with media and communication strategies being useful but not essential.

Now, finance faces a completely new political context. Geopolitics are back, and Europe is losing its leadership position, industrial foundation, and global influence. EU strategic priorities now revolve around maintaining relevance on the global stage, with finance seen as a means to an end: enhancing competitiveness while also benefiting consumers. This creates a new dynamic, with financial policy increasingly driven by top-down strategic political priorities – sometimes even selecting industry winners and losers.

Few decision-makers have the time or bandwidth to dive into the complexity and added value of financial services, yet they have urgent issues to solve. This is problematic because, if the current trend continues, the next natural step could be forgetting that finance is a key industry for Europe. This would lead to more regulation that might inadvertently squeeze out your business model and hinder your ability to support Europe’s economy.

We see this already happening in two ways:

1. New EU legislative initiatives with profound and potentially revolutionary impacts. Previous examples such as EMIR 3.0, the Digital Euro, Open Finance, the Retail Investment Strategy, and the delegation debate are precedents.
2. Independent initiatives from EU supervisory authorities (the ESAs) and the ECB with concrete operational impacts, leaving you limited ability to react (e.g., EBA's guidelines on loan origination, ESMA’s ESG fund names, the Green Asset Ratio).

To ensure your message is heard and understood, the financial industry must add new arrows to its quiver. It should consider the need to demonstrate its importance. It should also help decision-makers make smarter decisions. This requires articulating its added value to a much wider audience, and directly addressing their most pressing needs, including the complexities of today's geopolitical landscape.

This is where DGA can help. With an expert team in Brussels and offices around the world, we offer extensive experience in integrating efficient engagement programs with regulatory priorities across industries. Our team of experts in geopolitics, geoeconomics, risk analysis, and public policy can help you communicate your value clearly across multiple channels, in simple and precise terms, bridging the gap between how decision-makers perceive you and reality.

Raphaël Delli is a Partner at DGA Group and is based in the Brussels office. As the financial services lead in the EU Public Affairs practice, Mr. Delli advises clients throughout the financial services sector, with particular expertise in policy and regulatory frameworks, digital transformation and sustainability.