Isabelle Buscke has been Secretary General of Finance Watch since early 2026. In the first part of the interview, AK EUROPA spoke with her about the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) and the digital euro. The second part focuses on sustainable finance, the stability of the financial system, and the influence of the financial lobby on EU legislation.

AK EUROPA: With its sustainable finance agenda, the EU aims to steer investments toward environmental sustainability. However, simultaneously in the name of competitiveness, many regulations are now being rolled back. Will this weaken sustainable finance initiatives?

Buscke: Yes, that is concerning. Many industrial sectors need to become more sustainable. This raises the question of what role the financial system can play in this. Should we continue to finance coal, gas, and oil, or should we focus on wind turbines and solar power? There is also the risk that investments in CO2-intensive sectors will ultimately not make sense or become worthless due to the consequences of climate change - such as natural disasters - or the transition to a more sustainable economic system. This also affects the stability of the financial sector. Nevertheless, there was a serious setback in the area of sustainable finance when the transition plans were removed from the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). These plans required large companies to disclose how they intend to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This requirement has been scrapped, which is why much of the transparency and predictability has now been lost. After all, to disclose and categorise a financial instrument, it is important to know what path a company is on.

AK EUROPA: Finance Watch was founded in the wake of the financial crisis to advocate for stability in the financial sector. How stable is the sector currently, and how could it be improved?

Buscke: The financial crisis occurred 18 years ago, and the cleanup efforts began about 15 years ago. Nevertheless, the internationally agreed-upon rules for stabilising the global financial system - the so-called Basel Rules - have still not all been implemented, and now there are even attempts to weaken them. The banks argue that there have been no collapses and therefore no reason for more regulation. In fact, however, there have been repeated incidents in recent years with a potential risk of contagion for the financial sector. Governments have stepped in to stabilise the situation, for example with Credit Suisse or Silicon Valley Bank. The risk is also rising in the area of shadow banking. We currently face additional risk factors as well, such as the high US national debt and the deliberate devaluation of the US dollar. Furthermore, a major bubble is currently forming on the stock markets amid the AI hype, reminiscent of the dot-com bubble of the 2000s. The good news, however, is that EU regulatory authorities have significantly tightened their oversight. They, too, are attempting to warn of the risk of a new financial crisis.

AK EUROPA: In what other ways is Finance Watch working to promote a more stable financial sector?

Buscke: For Finance Watch, this means pointing out that since 2008, we have experienced further crises that have placed a heavy strain on national budgets. For example, during the COVID-19 crisis, the economy received widespread support, which continues to weigh on public finances to this day. We cannot intervene again on the same scale as in 2008. Second, we are speaking with decision-makers, because many of our demands have still not been implemented, such as the separation of commercial banking, where loans are granted, and investment banking, where speculation takes place. Furthermore, there remains a conflict of interest in the distribution of financial products. Those who sell products are paid commissions by the product issuers. This creates an incentive to sell products with the highest commissions rather than those best tailored to consumers’ needs.

AK EUROPA: How do you assess the influence of the financial lobby on EU legislation? Has it had an impact on the SIU or on the watering down of sustainable finance? Recently, financial service providers have also called for a financial omnibus bill.

Buscke: Yes, that’s a huge problem. We have 15 staff members at Finance Watch. The European Banking Federation alone - the umbrella organisation for national associations - has twice as many employees as we do in Brussels. And I haven’t even counted the national associations represented here yet. Then there are the lobbying offices of individual companies. The staffing levels of the financial lobby in Brussels are enormous. And yes, they are vocally calling for an omnibus bill - that is, using a single legislative proposal to introduce changes to various other laws. We find the current European Commission’s approach on omnibus procedures unacceptable, as it ignores its own rules on good lawmaking. Pressure to roll back capital regulations is coming primarily from the banks. We are highly concerned, since the current regulations on capital requirements are our society’s insurance against the next financial and economic crisis.

AK EUROPA: What would a fair and secure EU financial market look like? And which three measures would you implement right now if you could?

Buscke: We should adhere more strictly to the principle of “same risk, same regulation, and same supervision.” When it comes to risk, we should include all risks to financial market stability, including those related to climate change. “Same risk, same rules” also means including shadow banks. The second point would be to separate risks more clearly from one another so that they are not ultimately borne by society, as in the aforementioned separation of commercial and investment banks. And on the distribution side, a strict ban on commissions should be introduced so that consumers have better access to suitable and high-quality financial products.

Further information

AK EUROPA: Shaping financial markets in the interests of society. Isabelle Buscke, Secretary General of Finance Watch
AK EUROPA: New names, old challenges. The EU Savings and Investment Union
AK EUROPA: Digital Euro. Improvements for consumers required!
Finance Watch: Scrapping financial safeguards will inflate bills for ordinary people
Finance Watch: Unprepared, the financial system will triple people´s bills for climate change
Finance Watch: splitting megabanks
Finance Watch: The Financial Lobby Machine
AK Wien: Schattenbanken in Europa (only German)
Verbraucherzentrale: Warum Provisionen in der Finanzberatung ein Problem sind (only German)