Financial Services – Investment public policy / Kreab Brussels

About us

The financial services and investment public policy team at Kreab Brussels is one of the most advanced providers of professional services to the finance industry in Europe. We offer fully integrated public affairs, corporate communications support and crisis management services across the EU, with a market leading team of experienced advisors and consultants based in Brussels and in member states’ capitals. Our team comprises mainly former senior regulators, central bankers, competition experts and trade negotiators from the European Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers. We have worked with all parts of the financial sector over the last 20 years in Brussels and have assisted firms in developing and training their public policy staff and government affairs departments. We have been deeply proud to have worked with many of the world’s leading banks, insurers, asset managers and financial markets infrastructures and partnered with many of them to host conferences and develop thought leadership platforms to promote their brands and senior executives in constructive and innovative ways. For more information on our experience and services across Europe please contact any of the Partners in the Brussels office and we would be happy to arrange a meeting to discuss how we can help your organisation.

Financial Services & Investment

Kreab operates the largest financial services policy advisory service in Europe. We focus on supporting the financial sector and advising companies, associations and governments on financial regulation, political developments impacting their organisations, operating environment and investments.
With around 25 consultants in Brussels and experts around the EU in national capitals we help our clients by:
• advising boards and senior management on political and regulatory risks and developing strategies to mitigate risks or create new opportunities;
• assisting with engaging policymakers and building networks across the EU with all stakeholders;
• helping clients to establish government affairs departments to support their business strategy and communications goals.
We have worked with clients across all market segments – including banking, insurance, asset management, market infrastructure, trading, and payments and now extensively with fintech policy, technology firms and on Brexit related impacts for the financial sector.

History

Initially our skills were developed through Houston Consulting Europe, a specialist financial services policy consultancy founded by John Houston OBE, and then as part of the Kreab Group when Kreab acquired Houston Consulting in 2008, complementing its leading financial sector experience with consultants focussing on trade, competition, technology and energy, and broadening the linguistic and cultural mix of the office to 22 nationalities, speaking a similar number of languages.
The team in Brussels coordinates Kreab’s financial sector public affairs work across Europe and manages the Secretariat of the Financial Policy Advisers Network – launched in 2014 and now with local teams across 13 countries in the EMEA region.

Team Expertise

Our senior team has experience at board level within globally systemic financial institutions and at the highest levels of the European Institutions – across the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers in particular.
Our team is unique in the Brussels market because we recruit directly from the EU Institutions and national ministries, central banks and supervisors, to ensure we have up to date knowledge of policy, processes and decision makers.
90% of our team have direct experience of policymaking and being on the receiving end of financial sector lobbying. This gives us unparalleled expertise of forming politically attuned and legally workable lobbying strategies, and ensuring clients make a positive lasting impression with representatives of the public sector and other influential stakeholders.

Financial Policy Advisers Network

The largest financial services network in Europe
In 2014, Kreab Brussels and eight partner offices in Europe founded a network of financial services advisers dedicated to supporting existing clients and prospects in providing advice on financial services regulation and public affairs strategy, both at EU level and in the capitals.
Today, the Financial Policy Advisers network is the largest financial services policy network in Europe. The network brings together experience public affairs professionals key Member States to deliver advice and support on financial services regulation and their impact, both cross-border and at national level.

Areas of expertise:
• Financial Services Regulation: Helping financial services providers and users of financial services to navigate, risk asses and contribute to policy development
• Sustainable Finance: Advising on the impact of the sustainability agenda, including Taxonomy, Disclosures, Green Bonds and sustainable corporate governance.
• FinTech/Digital: Working on data polices, crypto-assets, AI, fintech, cybersecurity and the platform economy, among others
• EU-UK: Helping clients navigate the reform of UK financial regulations in the context of the new EU-UK relations
• Trade: Advising corporates and governments on EU trade relations with the US, China, and across the world
• Competition: Supporting clients on anti-trust, merger clearance, state aid and wider competition policy issues

Contact details:
David Reed
europe@financialpolicyadvisers.eu

Consultancy Services

Lobbying

We do direct lobbying for and with clients, design integrated communications strategies for different audiences, and help clients to build the organisational structures they need internally to govern and manage public policy issues.

We act as intermediaries between the EU and the financial sector helping clients engage positively over the long term.

Investment research and analysis

With the global financial crisis and increased contagion risks across countries, economic and financial stability developments have become a major aspect taken into account in policy making. Staying on top of how economic developments influence EU policies and decision making is crucial to understand how these in turn affect businesses, investment opportunities and the economy at large.

We support clients and investors in this effort through a dedicated team of consultants specialized in four areas:

· Macro-economics : Financial stability risks in Europe and beyond; Impact of EU regulation on distressed assets; Supervisory and resolution policies; Monetary, fiscal and economic policy; EU economic coordination (SGP); the Multilateral financial framework, as well as institutional governance developments at EU (future of the EU/EMU) and international level (e.g. G20, IO, IMF) .

· International policy: Systemic risk reduction policies and possible contagion channels, including through emerging markets; Regulatory equivalence regimes; Influence of geopolitical risks; and Debt restructuring policies.

· Investment policy and tools: Investment related EU laws and rules; EU investment tools and facilities for EU and non-EU members.

· Research: bespoke research, on request

Policy and issues monitoring and impact assessment

We have a large dedicated team focussed on gathering intelligence and assessing the political and market impacts of EU policy. This service provides clients in the private and public sector with detailed understanding of the policy process and how their priorities are being addressed on a real time basis in EU negotiations.

This takes the form of bespoke emailed reports and phone briefings for clients on their issues – either daily, weekly or monthly – and can be adapted to fit clients internal reporting requirements and information needs.

Profile raising

When clients aim to increase their visibility and networks across Europe, either as part of a lobbying campaign or for wider corporate reputation objectives we design tailored profiling strategies from top management and government affairs teams.

This ranges from thought leadership initiatives on business issues or policy development to building new platforms to showcase clients talent and experience. Usually this is combined with extensive networking with public officials and other key contacts.

We arrange around 30 events each year focussed on financial regulation and policy. This involves bespoke events for clients to promote their brands and senior leadership, and also for broader client networking. This includes “show and tells” for client’s products and services, panel debates and large scale public conferences involving representatives from across the EU institutions and global standard setters.

For information on our Brussels Annual Financial Services Conference please visit the website and contact us if you would like to get involved in 2019! Or for events on digital policy and fintech – please visit the Financial Services & Technology Forum website. Please feel free to suggest a topic for our 2018-19 programme.

Our senior team also takes on leadership positions within private sector bodies in order to build effective networks and profile client interests within the Brussels community. This includes working with the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, Japan Business Council, British Chamber of Commerce, CityUK, CEPS, EPC and many more.

Operations consulting

We have developed a Kreab framework for building and strengthening government affairs functions within corporate clients. This includes applying best practices from across the industry on governance, issues and information management, strategic planning, impact measurement. We are also often retained to assist with the recruitment and training process for government affairs professionals.