EU trailing UK capital market reforms, Frankfurt bourse official says By Reuters

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro

LONDON (Reuters) – The EU is falling behind Britain in tapping into savers’ money to boost the stock market, despite reforms in continental Europe being a step in the right direction, an official with Germany’s bourse told Reuters.

“In terms of policy change, in the UK there’s a realisation that we need to incentivise more capital; we’re not there yet in Germany,” said Stefan Maassen, head of Capital Markets & Corporates at Deutsche Boerse (ETR:), which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Maassen, a former investment banker, was referring to initiatives by the UK government aimed at directing up to 75 billion pounds ($93.46 billion) of extra capital into growth companies as part of efforts to encourage local stock listings.

Last week, UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt outlined measures in his autumn budget to pool pension funds and increase their allocation to unlisted equities.

Hunt stopped short of increasing the tax-free allowance for individual savings accounts (ISAs) to promote investment in…