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Finance

Finance

Even though sustainable finance has been a fundamental issue in the social agenda for many years now, thanks to the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, the world became aware of the environmental risks and economic impact resulting from the effects of climate change. However, it is not just society that is increasingly more aware. The financial industry is also contemplating climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as relevant factors to determine their investment strategy.

Large technology companies, or bigtech, have a large customer base, access to a massive volume of data and financial strength. While banks also have some of these attributes, it is the network effect technologies that companies benefit from that could ultimately undermine data-fueled innovation that is causing regulators and businesses alike concern. According to Santiago Fernández de Lis, the Head of Regulation at BBVA, if we want to ensure the continued growth, innovation and sustainability of the digital economy, we need to shift our approach to regulation from a national, sectoral approach to a truly cross-border and intersectoral approach.

In recent times, EU institutions have made significant headway in developing a credible banking union. But despite progress, there is still a lot of work to do. According to José Manuel González-Páramo, Executive Director and Global Head of Economics and Institutional Relations at BBVA, the Europe’s new lawmaker team must promote new reforms to advance towards a true union.