The use of private-public funds for the IPOs of EU SMEs

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has made it her priority to facilitate SMEs’ access to finance by completing the Capital Markets Union (CMU). Specifically, she has indicated that the Commission would launch a “private-public fund specialising in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of SMEs” to meet the objective of supporting SMEs’ investment and financing opportunities.

FESE strongly supports Ursula von der Leyen’s political guidelines for the European Commission.  In the context of the current crisis, we believe that a revamped CMU is now even more necessary to build a more sustainable and resilient EU economy that works for people. The EU IPO fund should support both IPOs and secondary issuances on the EU’s Regulated Markets and Multilateral Trading Facilities.