Finance Watch

30/09/2026

⚠️ Social media scams are out of control and platforms are underestimating the crisis.

📣 Finance Watch, together with The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and civil society organisations, is sounding the alarm over the dangerous rise of social media scams. Tech platforms are taking inadequate measures against a fraud epidemic that inflicts devastating financial, emotional, and psychological harm especially on vulnerable people.

📃 EU and national authorities must act now to enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the principle of safety by design. It is time to hold tech giants accountable

Read the joint statement here 👇

Social media scams are out of control and platforms are underestimating the crisis. In a joint statement, Finance Watch calls for EU and national authorities to speed up the enforcement of the Digital Services Act.

22/09/2026

Today, Finance Watch has launched its latest research report on how financial institutions and social media influencers mislead EU retail investors.

A new Finance Watch study across 4 EU countries reveals the widespread use of misleading online interface design and deceptive influencer marketing practices to maximize profits at the expense of online retail investors. In particular, the study found:

✅Extensive use of dark patterns and addictive design on financial institutions websites and apps, including giving more prominence to options that are not always in the consumer’s interest, providing unverified “expert” opinions and push notifications that cannot be deactivated.

✅Misleading guidance by financial influencers on social media, where sponsored content is often disguised as “educational”, risks are not adequately communicated and minors are targeted.

Current EU laws fail to protect online retail investors from these misleading practices. Finance Watch is calling on the upcoming Digital Fairness Act to ban dark patterns, disable addictive features by default, and ban social media influencer promotions of retail investment products.

➡️Finance Watch will host a webinar to discuss the report's findings on 15 October at 11:00 CEST. Register to join at the link below.
https://share.hsforms.com/1coer2fotSrqO8dUr3XFZjg51ldz

➡️Read the report here:
https://www.finance-watch.org/policy-portal/digital-finance/dark-patterns-addictive-design-and-misleading-influencer-marketing/

16/09/2026

Every year, policymakers, supervisors and financial industry representatives come together at the Eurofi Financial Forum to discuss the future of Europe’s financial system and financial regulation.

This week, as they meet in Dublin, Finance Watch is among the few civil society stakeholders there, too.

📑 We’re bringing a different perspective to the conversation, making sure the people affected by financial decisions have a voice in the room.

For us, that means looking beyond what works for the financial system today and asking what Europe’s economy and society will need tomorrow.

At Finance Watch, we’re pushing for finance that:

🌱 Helps move money towards the transition and other societal needs
🔥 Takes climate risks seriously before they become even bigger costs
🏗️ Supports the investment needed to build a more resilient economy
⏳ Thinks beyond the next quarter, election or market cycle

Because the rules of finance shape our communities, our future and what kind of economy we build for future generations.

Reach out to our Research & Advocacy colleagues if you wish to discuss these issues further, and stay tuned as we continue bringing a public-interest perspective to the debate 👉 https://www.finance-watch.org/about/team/

15/09/2026

📣 Read Finance Watch’s new position paper on the digital euro as the European Parliament and Member States are expected to agree on the final legislation this year.

An electronic form of cash issued by the European Central Bank has the potential to solve the current shortcomings of the European payments landscape and break the current dominance of foreign payment service providers. However, for the digital euro to succeed, it has to be truly free for basic use, be widely acceptable, have adequate holding limits, be easily accessible by everyone, and have high privacy standards.

Finance Watch's recommendations are as follows:
✅ Holding limits must be determined by technical factors rather than politics.
✅ Merchants that accept other digital payment methods must be required to accept the digital euro.
✅ Inclusiveness must be ensured through a public distribution option, free access to basic services, exceptional measures for individuals facing unrecognised third-country sanctions and legally binding rules to adjust anti-money laundering (AML) requirements for vulnerable groups.
✅ Merchant fees must be lower than those for existing payment schemes.
✅ Privacy and data protection standards must be high.

Read Finance Watch’s position paper here:
https://www.finance-watch.org/policy-portal/digital-finance/getting-the-digital-euro-right/

11/09/2026

📑 EU financial rules in 2026: what does “sustainable” really mean?

When you choose an investment fund, pension product or another financial product labelled as sustainable, how can you know what that actually means?
The EU introduced the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) in 2021 to set rules for how financial institutions communicate the sustainability characteristics of their products.

Five years of the rules in practice have highlighted areas where the framework could be more effective, including clearer definitions, more meaningful product categories and a clear concept of transition.

💼 With the rules now being revised, Finance Watch is contributing through research, advocacy and engagement with policymakers, calling for clearer categories, stronger requirements to ensure that transition-focused products are backed by credible sustainability plans, stronger safeguards for the proposed ESG Basics category and information people can understand and compare.

🎯 Why it matters: when financial products are presented as sustainable, people need reliable information to understand what their money is actually supporting and make informed choices.

🔗 👇
finance-watch.org/policy-portal/sustainable-finance/feedback-on-the-revision-of-the-sustainable-finance-disclosure-regulation-sfdr

09/09/2026

📑 EU financial rules in 2026: what does “sustainable” really mean?

When you choose an investment fund, pension product or another financial product labelled as sustainable, how can you know what that actually means?
The EU introduced the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) in 2021 to set rules for how financial institutions communicate the sustainability characteristics of their products.

Five years of the rules in practice have highlighted areas where the framework could be more effective, including clearer definitions, more meaningful product categories and a clear concept of transition.

💼 With the rules now being revised, Finance Watch is contributing through research, advocacy and engagement with policymakers, calling for clearer categories, stronger requirements to ensure that transition-focused products are backed by credible sustainability plans, stronger safeguards for the proposed ESG Basics category and information people can understand and compare.

🎯 Why it matters: when financial products are presented as sustainable, people need reliable information to understand what their money is actually supporting and make informed choices.

🔗 👇
https://www.finance-watch.org/policy-portal/sustainable-finance/feedback-on-the-revision-of-the-sustainable-finance-disclosure-regulation-sfdr/

01/09/2026

Europe’s wildfires are not yet over. But once the smoke clears, who pays? 🔥

This summer, damage from climate is up to €19 billion! When insurance isn't sufficient, that bill lands on taxpayers. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If we distribute risk, we can be better prepared for climate disasters.
1️⃣ Insurers should cover high-risk regions
2️⃣ National schemes should spread the risk
3️⃣ The EU should step in when disasters overwhelm them

Read our Secretary General Isabelle Buscke’s analysis in the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper 👉 https://bit.ly/4x1skV8

27/08/2026

📑 EU financial rules in 2026: shadow banking

More than half of global financial assets are now managed outside regular banks, including in private credit funds, hedge funds and money market funds.

💼 In May, Finance Watch published “Systemic risk from shadow banking”, mapping how stress in this sector can spread to banks and the wider economy.

The report calls for better data, system-wide stress tests and stronger EU-level supervision.

📌 This work is part of Finance Watch’s efforts to identify emerging vulnerabilities before they become systemic.

🎯 Why it matters: financial risks can spread across the financial system, regardless of where they originate.

🔗 👇
https://www.finance-watch.org/policy-portal/stability-supervision/report-systemic-risk-from-shadow-banking/

26/08/2026

Finance is trapped in a political rollercoaster 🎢

💸 When credit is readily available and asset prices increase, governments often loosen rules, weaken supervision and increase their tolerance for risk-taking. Policy begins to align with the preferences of big banks, financiers and powerful firms. This reduces our ability to withstand future financial crises in favour of risk.
💥 That accumulation of risk can culminate in a financial crisis: businesses fail, jobs disappear, savings are wiped out and taxpayers are left with the bill.
🏛️ After the crash, public anger and political turnover tend to lead to tighter rules and reinforced supervisory practices.
🎢 But as conditions stabilise and credit expands, memories of the last financial crisis fade. The rules developed to protect the system are framed as burdensome, and policymakers respond to the short-term profit incentives of financial-sector actors.

Today, we’re seeing the same sort of pressures that have led to major financial crises and cost people their livelihoods. The rules designed to stave off the next financial crisis are once again being dismantled.

The next crisis isn’t inevitable. Policymakers can still choose stability over deregulation. That’s why Finance Watch is calling for stronger rules, full implementation of the Basel III standards intended to make banking safer, robust supervision and international cooperation.

Read our latest analysis in Euractiv:
https://www.euractiv.com/opinion/who-still-believes-in-the-post-2008-financial-crisis-banking-reforms/

13/08/2026

📑 EU financial rules in 2026: banking competitiveness

There is growing pressure in Europe to make banking rules simpler in the name of competitiveness.

💼 Finance Watch’s position: simpler rules, yes. Weaker safeguards, no. In its paper “Resilient banks, resilient economy”, Finance Watch argued that strong capital buffers remain essential to keep banks resilient and able to support the real economy.

📌 This work is part of Finance Watch’s efforts to support a financial system that remains stable over time.

🎯 Why it matters: when banks are better prepared for shocks, they are more likely to keep lending to households and businesses, without shifting losses to society.

https://www.finance-watch.org/policy-portal/stability-supervision/resilient-banks-resilient-economy/