Capital Market Council launches activities to expand opportunities for businesses and investors

2023-01-19

The Capital Market Council is established on the initiative of the Bank of Lithuania and the Ministry of Finance to bring together the public and private sectors, and it has launched its activities. The Council will ensure dialogue between market participants and state institutions, will be responsible for the overall strategy for the development of the Lithuanian capital market and the formation of a unified position at the EU level.

“The Capital Market Council is another example of the public-private cooperation. Our goal was to have the representatives from different fields, each of whom would look after issues in the field they represent and see the overall progress. This is necessary to ensure that capital market development is consistent and properly managed, and that legislative changes necessary for progress are initiated centrally,” says Gediminas Šimkus, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.

The Council will ensure the implementation of the recommendations set out in the Capital Market Development Guidelines. It will also prepare specific recommendations for solving problematic cases in Lithuania’s capital market, the implementation of policy measures and directions as well as submit them to relevant institutions.

The Council aims to define the direction for the development of the Lithuanian capital market and to facilitate dialogue with market participants and state institutions in order to achieve sustainable capital market growth.

“Together with market participants and institutions, we have set out in the Capital Market Development Guidelines measures that will increase investment and savings opportunities for both residents and investors and will allow to create additional financing sources for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. It is the Capital Market Council that will ensure the achievement of these objectives and shape a clear direction for the development of the capital market. This will contribute to the creation of a high value-added economy and strengthen Lithuania’s position as an advanced and competitive state on the international scene,” points out Vaida Markevičienė, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Finance.

According to the Vice-Minister, the Lithuanian regulated market contracted following the 2009 crisis and has not recovered so far, but despite its current size, the number of market participants and investors, there is enormous potential to be exploited. For this purpose, the Capital Market Development Guidelines have been prepared and the Capital Market Council established. Successful capital markets improve business access to long-term financing and enhance the diversity of savings and investment instruments for residents, while contributing to economic growth.

The Guidelines set out 7 directions: the establishment of 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, boosting competition between financial intermediaries and increasing financial education. Recommendations are aimed at these directions and will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to attract financing by issuing securities, allow to increase the diversity of financial products traded on the capital market, broaden the ability of pension funds to invest in a wider range of financial market instruments and increase the number of securities listed on the stock exchange.

Composition of the Council: Vaida Markevičienė (Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Chair of the Capital Market Council); Simonas Krėpšta (Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Deputy Chair of the Capital Market Council); Ieva Valeškaitė (Vice-Minister of the 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 Association of Investment and Pension Funds); Gerda Sakalauskaitė (Lithuanian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association); Vytautas Šenavičius (Lithuanian Peer-to-Peer Lending and Crowdfunding Association); Audrius Žakas (Nasdaq CSD SE Lithuania); Inga Langaitė (Unicorns Lithuania); Eglė Neverbickienė (Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists).