France's Ministry of Economics and Finance, together with several European counterparts, has officially launched the European “Finance Europe” label to help savers identify long-term investments that channel more of Europe’s roughly EUR 35 trillion in savings into financing European companies. The label is positioned as an investment guide rather than a new financial product. To qualify, labelled funds must invest at least 70% of assets in the European Economic Area, be primarily equity-focused to support European companies’ own-funds financing, and include an incentive to hold long term with a minimum investment period of five years. Products cannot benefit from a public capital guarantee, meaning investors may face capital losses, and any associated tax incentives will be determined by each state. Implementation is designed to be simple and decentralised, with banks, insurers and asset management firms distributing labelled products and national competent authorities overseeing compliance with the common criteria to support credibility and transparency.

Original source View in tracker