Finance Watch
@financewatch
Finance Watch is an independent non-profit association dedicated to reforming finance in the interest of citizens. www.finance-watch.org
🌱 Greener pensions 💶 Keeping cash alive 💳 A digital euro 🏦 Transparent banks ... kinda chic, if you ask us!
📑 EU financial rules in 2026: climate risk Climate change is not only an environmental issue. It's also a financial stability issue. 🧵 1/4
New #euros are on the way 💶✨ Cash is universal & available to all. But in the digital age, protecting cash isn’t enough. Now, most day-to-day payments in the EU are made without cash. That's why we advocate for universal access to cash & its digital equivalent, the #digitaleuro.
The European Parliament has adopted its position on the digital euro. 💼 Finance Watch has advocated for free basic use, wide acceptance, easy access and stronger privacy protections. These issues are now part of the debate ahead of trilogue negotiations. 🧵1/2
📢 We’re hiring a Grants Administration Intern in Brussels! Want to help finance serve society and the planet? Join Finance Watch and support our Operations & Projects team. 💼 Learn more & apply 👉 www.finance-watch.org/job/job-offe...
📢 #JobAlert: We're hiring a (Senior) Research & Advocacy Officer – Public Finance! Work on EU fiscal rules, debt sustainability, climate risks, policy research and advocacy. 💼 Join us in Brussels to make finance serve society. Apply now 🔗 www.finance-watch.org/job/senior-r...
📢 We’re hiring a Head of Operations & Finance in Brussels. Oversee finance, HR, grants, governance, compliance, IT, and internal operations. Send your CV & motivation letter to 📩 recruitment@finance-watch.org. Subject: Head of Operations & Finance - Vacancy www.finance-watch.org/job/job-offe...
If only financial crises came with #heatwave alerts... 🥵 Extreme weather disrupts businesses, damages infrastructure, drives up insurance losses and puts pressure on the economy. The climate is changing. So should financial regulation!
Alongside civil society including @triodosuk.bsky.social, @febeaethicalfin.bsky.social, & @germanwatch.bsky.social, we affirm that #simplification must not mean lower capital requirements, weaker buffers or a rollback of the safeguards introduced after the 2008 financial crisis. Read the letter 👇
🎉 Thank you to everyone who joined us for #FWConference2026! 15 years after Finance Watch was founded in the wake of the global financial crisis, the conversations in Brussels demonstrated that the need for robust, forward-looking financial regulation remains as important as ever.
Maria Luís Albuquerque noted that EU banks stand in competition with their US peers, but warns against blindly following the US regulatory agenda: "We should look at our own capacity to compete (...) but it does not mean that we will follow the US in the race to the bottom." #FWConference2026
Our secretary general @ibuscke.bsky.social joins commissioner for financial services and the savings & investments union Maria Luís Albuquerque for a fireside chat during the #FWConference2026 at the national bank of Belgium.
Rebecca Christie reminds us that Europe was already deemed not compliant with #Basel. Responding to the current competitiveness mandate, she argues that "Europe needs strong & credible regulators that we can believe in - this will make the EU banking sector more competitive." #FWConference2026
Verena Ross states that although there is money in the EU (investments to be mobilised), there remains market fragmentation: "We need to have a proper viable alternative system to mobilise capital in the EU (...) this requires the removal of fragmentation in the single market." #FWConference2026
MEP Jonás Ferandez from @socialistsanddemocrats.eu thinks of resilience as closely related to robustness & the potential to increase economic growth in the future. "With the uncertain times we are living in (...)we don't know if the resilience we have is enough for the future." #FWConference2026
During our panel session, Verena Ross from ESMA, MEP Jonás Fernández from @socialistsanddemocrats.eu & Rebecca Christie from @bruegel.org debate the topic of financial resilience in uncertain times. #FWConference2026
At the #FWConference2026, Géraldine Thiry states that a stable financial system underpins the functioning of our economy. "Financial stability cannot be treated as an impediment to growth. It is not a constraint on the economy, but its foundation (...) and serves a vital societal role."
Géraldine Thiry, director at the National Bank of Belgium, addresses the debate around simplification during her speech: "We must recast the conversation as one of robustness over fragility." #FWConference2026
Our secretary general @ibuscke.bsky.social just opened Finance Watch’s 15th anniversary conference at the National Bank of Belgium to discuss the future of financial regulation in uncertain times. She asserts that "resilient banks are a life insurance for our way of life." #FWConference2026
📣 TODAY: Finance Watch is kicking off its 15th anniversary conference at the National Bank of Belgium. We'll talk about how the EU can ensure that its financial system supports European long-term objectives. Stay tuned for the sharpest insights & most memorable quotes as the conversations unfold!
🌍 🚨 Big banks like JP Morgan are increasingly concerned about the irreversible impacts of #ClimateChange... yet they’re still financing fossil fuel expansion! That’s why regulators must step in to make sure banks capture the scale of climate disruption & stop fueling a climate financial crisis.
100+ members. 20+ European countries. One shared goal: making finance serve society. 📑 Finance Watch’s 2025 Annual Report reflects both the work we do and the network that makes it possible. 🔗 Discover the full report 👇 www.finance-watch.org/blog/finance...
Trust in the #DigitalEuro requires clear information on its design. That’s why public debate matters. Online payments work like today’s. Offline payments keep transaction details private. Cash stays. The digital euro adds choice, not replacement. Learn more 👉 www.finance-watch.org/blog/the-dig...
Gen Zifying the digital euro wasn’t on our bingo card, but here we are! 🫡 The #DigitalEuro could let people across the eurozone pay electronically with greater accessibility, control & peace of mind. Learn more about what the digital euro could change (or not) 👉 bit.ly/49Uj7Fs
How can financial regulation support EU strategic autonomy in an unstable world?🏦 Join Finance Watch for its 15th anniversary high-level conference in Brussels! 📅 10 June | 17:00 - 19:00 (followed by a networking reception) Programme & registration👇 www.finance-watch.org/event/confer...
Digital payments are routine across Europe. But they don’t work equally for everyone. The #DigitalEuro could add another payment option alongside cash and existing services, making payments more accessible. 🔗 Read more in our blog: www.finance-watch.org/blog/the-dig...
Why is everyone suddenly talking about #PrivateCredit? 👀 Since 2008, the new model has exploded in size, but without the same rules, transparency, or safety buffers that banks have. A 🧵 on what’s actually inside these funds and why they pose a risk to the global financial system… 1/3
Conference: How should financial regulation evolve to support Europe’s strategic objectives? 🏛️ Book your seat now to hear from an exceptional line up of leading policymakers and experts. 🗓️ 10 June | Brussels 🔗 Registration: www.finance-watch.org/event/confer... #15yearsOfFinanceWatch
Much of finance today consists of non-bank financial institutions (or #NBFIs) constantly lending to each other & banks - but regulation hasn't caught up. That’s why we need: 🏦 Stronger EU supervision of NBFIs 🔍 Better tools for systemically important NBFIs 🌡️ System-wide stress tests to locate risk
📣 This #MayDay, protecting workers starts with *preventing* financial crises, not just responding to them. To ensure that financial regulation is the first line of defense for workers, Finance Watch is calling for safeguards like higher capital requirements, and limits on excessive risk-taking!