Spotlight Article on new Financial Services Commissioner

Earlier this month was the long-anticipated moment when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was to unveil her new Commission. For weeks Brussels was abuzz with rumors of who would get what Commission portfolio. For financial services the likes of current Finance Ministers Magnus Brunner (Austria) or Michael McGrath (Ireland) were traded as hot candidates for the position. In the end von der Leyen has appointed the Portuguese Maria Luís Albuquerque as Commissioner-designate for the portfolio of what is now to be known as Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union.

Like Brunner and McGrath she has experience as Minister of Finance but dating back to the eurozone crisis years 2013 to 2015. Mrs. Albuquerque has been (in)famous for keeping the country’s financial commitments to the European Union and, because of this, she is highly respected in Brussels. But her experience goes beyond that. She also served as member of the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on the Capital Markets Union between 2019 and 2020 and currently serves as an independent non-executive director at Morgan Stanley Europe.

Like all the other Commissioner designates, she found in her inbox a so-called ‘mission letter’. The latter specifies that during her mandate, Maria Luís Albuquerque will be responsible for developing the European Savings and Investments Union, an ambitious project aimed at channeling European citizens’ savings into financing the broader EU goals. As part of this mission, she will a.o. have to design new saving and investment products that will be simple, low-cost and standardised across the EU. Additionally, she is expected to improve the EU’s supervisory system without any specifications what that might mean in practice.

As the new Financial Services Commissioner, Mrs. Albuquerque will also be in charge of unlocking new financing opportunities for European businesses through the promotion of venture and risk capital, a review of the regulatory framework to scale up growing companies and startups and the revitalisation of securitisation in European markets.

The next five years will involve work on non-bank financial institutions – code speak for asset managers and (re)insurers – in relation to macro-prudential aspects at international level.

In her role, she will also have to ensure that the EU remains a global leader in sustainable finance, implement digital payment services and assess the potential applications and benefits of AI in the financial services sector.

The Commissioner designate, if confirmed, will also have to continue the Commission’s work on the protection of consumers and retail investors as well as to work on a strategy on financial literacy.

Finally, Mrs. Albuquerque will also oversee the enforcement of the recently adopted and published Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML) package and will prepare the set-up of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority.

Being designated by Member States and getting a portfolio by the Commission President does nevertheless not mean that for Commissioners, this is a done deal. The European Parliament needs to sign off the whole College of Commissioners. In order to do that MEPs will be grilling the various candidates in US style hearings that will test them on their intellectual, portfolio specific and ethical fitness for the job. The European Parliament has a history of eliminating at every new mandate candidates they deem unworthy. Maria Luís Albuquerque will soon participate in those confirmation hearings together with the other Commissioners-designate, which will take place between the 4 and the 12 November. Currently the new Commission is expected to start operating starting from 1 December. Complications with additional hearings and swapping of candidates could potentially also postpone the beginning of the new mandate to 1 January 2025.