Delphi Economic Forum: Proper information is the key to competitive capital markets

The quality of information is the first priority for the capital markets today, as it ensures the confidence of investors, said the President of the Greek Capital Market Commission, Mrs. Vasiliki Lazarakou, at the 7th Delphi Economic Forum held in Delphi, April 6-9. under the auspices of SA of the President of the Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Ms. Lazarakou stressed the value of information because, beyond definitions, such as what is considered “green” or not, the catalyst that contributes to investor confidence is the accuracy of the information provided. The information, therefore, must be collected, accurate and comparable. Investor confidence strengthens the capital markets as tools for financing the green transition and sustainable development. Referring to the “green bonds”, Ms. Lazarakou stated that the Greek capital market has already created a platform that will display these securities that will be generally associated with ESG criteria. However, he added that there are still many steps to be taken to increase the depth of this market.

Mr. Serdar Celik, OECD Director of Finance and Business, said that, historically, in every major transition, the capital markets have been a major source of funding. This is true of both the digital transformation and the green transition. Changing the mindset of companies and adapting institutional frameworks to corporate governance rules that include how data is published, shareholders, boards and stakeholders. Then there should be uniform and clear definitions of social or climatic footprint. For example, for 2/3 of the companies listed internationally, climate change is a risk.

However, both Ms. Lazarakou and Mr. Nicholas Pfaff, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Sustainable Financing of the International Union of Securities Commissions (ICMA), have placed particular emphasis on the terms “classification” and “greenwashing”. what appears to be green and therefore cannot be financed, for example through green bonds. Mr Plaff explained that the classification is a process of categorizing economic activities based on the green footprint. But, as he said, the classification started, without first understanding all the bodies and the principles of what classification is. For example, the environmental footprint of the final product, ie “Ecolabel”, should also be taken into account. So if the current classification is used strictly, then not even 5% of companies can be financed by green bonds and other sustainable tools that exceed 1 trillion. dollars.