Abstract
Recently, private equity, venture capital and private debt have received prominent backing from the EU Commission in its project to build Capital Markets Union. The fundamental role played by the financial industry in supporting SMEs, which can benefit from patient investment and active ownership, could be obstructed or encouraged by regulatory, tax and competition policies. This paper briefly describes the positive role of the industry players in developing successful and sustainable companies and hence contributing to growth and job creation. It also identifies challenges, opportunities and instruments needed to increase investments and encourage the development of new players, strengthen the existing ones, and further develop the pan-European capital market.