Mission statement

Our mission

When you put your money in a bank, you need to be sure it will still be there tomorrow.  When deciding how to grow your savings, you should have access to a wide range of investment opportunities that could bring you healthy returns and support your long-term financial goals. When you want to invest in a financial product, you expect to receive all the information you need before taking a decision. When you shop in the EU, you want to be able to choose from a wide range of safe and quick payment options. And if you are an entrepreneur, you need access to funding – to expand and scale up your business – both from banks and capital markets.  

These are just a few examples of what we, the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), want to achieve. To this end, we are working to ensure a resilient and stable financial system that supports economic growth and delivers on the EU strategic priorities including long-term competitiveness, security and the digital and green transitions. Our focus  is on supporting people so they can save better, fostering capital for innovation, unlocking digital and sustainable finance, and ensuring the competitiveness of the financial sector. We also strive to fight market misconduct and financial crime, and we impose sanctions to prevent conflicts or respond to crises in non-EU countries when necessary.   

Together with Member States and the European Parliament, we develop and shape policies and rules that govern financial services in the EU, so that markets work well, and you can bank, save, pay, invest or get insured with confidence. Once EU rules are agreed, we make sure that they work as intended and that Member States are implementing them properly. Our goal is to maintain trust in the financial system for all, while at the same time fostering a business-friendly environment that drives growth.  

We constantly monitor emerging risks, so we can ensure a quick response when needed. We want to help our financial institutions to fully exploit the competitive edge offered by technological progress – for instance digitalisation or Artificial Intelligence – but at the same time we endeavour to mitigate any associated risks.  

In all this, DG FISMA works in close collaboration with  the European Supervisory Authorities, the European Central Bank, the Single Resolution Board, the European Systemic Risk Board, and national competent authorities. Since the world of finance extends beyond the EU’s borders, we also work closely with authorities across the globe and international regulators such as the Financial Stability Board.