This Guide is addressed to public authorities, project sponsors, project promoters and issuers seeking to raise finance for European infrastructure projects. It is designed to provide practical guidance on raising debt finance through banks and the capital markets, taking account of the impact of planning and procurement issues on the transaction process. This Guide is one of a number of AFME and ICMA initiatives in support of the European growth agenda. AFME’s report entitled 'Bridging the growth gap: Investor views on European and US capital markets and how they drive investment and economic growth' highlighted a number of roadblocks to European infrastructure investment, including investor concerns about political and legal uncertainty and lack of access for smaller funds, which we hope this guide will help to address. AFME and ICMA are strongly supportive of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe and the €315bn European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). We believe that this guide can contribute to the work of EFSI by facilitating the raising of private sector finance for the infrastructure projects in which EFSI invests.

Bridging the Growth Gap, co-written with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), shows that Europe has a significantly smaller pool of investable assets than the similar sized US economy. But the real problem is the fragmented nature of European markets and the lack of equity finance. The report draws on a survey of global investors holding around €9tn assets under management and provides a unique, in-depth analysis of how capital markets in Europe and the US compare, and how these differences may have contributed to the wide disparity in growth rates since the financial crisis.

Agreement on common market standards and best practices is essential for the development of a Pan- European private placement market for corporate debt. This Pan-European Corporate Private Placement Market Guide (the “Guide”) aims to support the development of this market, and builds on existing practices in the bond and bank loan markets, as well as practices in other international private placement markets. The Guide is intended to provide a non-binding framework of best practices for Pan-European private placement (“PEPP”) transactions.

In An Agenda for Capital Markets Union, AFME proposes that the CMU work programme is organised under three pillars, covering: issuance of capital market instruments (the supply side); long-term investment in the capital markets (the demand side); and infrastructure for capital markets issuance and trading.

Welcome to the seventh edition of The International Comparative Legal Guideto: Securitisation. This guide provides the international practitioner and in-house counsel with acomprehensive worldwide legal analysis of the laws and regulations ofsecuritisation. It is divided into two main sections: Seven general chapters. These are designed to provide readers with acomprehensive overview of key securitisation issues, particularly from theperspective of a multi-jurisdictional transaction.Country question and answer chapters. These provide a broad overview ofcommon issues in securitisation laws and regulations in 32 jurisdictions.All chapters are written by leading securitisation lawyers and industryspecialists and we are extremely grateful for their excellent contributions. Special thanks are reserved for the contributing editor, Mark Nicolaides ofLatham & Watkins LLP, for his invaluable assistance. Global Legal Group hopes that you find this guide practical and interesting. The International Comparative Legal Guide series is also available online atwww.iclg.co.uk.

This supplementary report analyses the existence and magnitude of any implicit subsidy for EU banks. Such analysis is required to assess the need for, and benefit of, further reform of the EU banking sector.

Since the financial crisis, the banking industry has undergone dramatic change, as banks and regulators have responded to the weaknesses exposed. The changes made have struck to the core of banks, challenging how and where they operate, and what services they provide. This report summarises those changes, whether driven by new regulatory or commercial imperatives. Whilst EU banks have been the main focus of this study, die to the global impact that European structural reform will have, major Swiss and US banks have been included.

AFME commissioned PwC to undertake a study of the possible impact of proposed bank structural reform regulation. The aim was to expand on the evidence available to policy makers as they consider the further policy development on the requirement for and specification of structural reforms. The study focuses on the impact of the proposals as applied to 18 global ststemically-important banks and large domestic systemically important banks which would be among the main targets of new regulation.

The financial crisis exposed a range of vulnerabilities in the financial system. These included financial weakness of many banks, poor risk management, systemically risky interconnections and, in a number of cases, an absence of intensive supervision. Since then, a significant, multi-year regulatory reform programme has taken place, designed to address these failings and leading to a financial system that is both more resilient and better able to contribute to sustainable growth. The framework is now in place to ensure stronger, safer banks, and to bring an end to “too big to fail”.

AFME's 2014 Annual Review takes stock of a historic12 months which marked not only the culmination of a historic wave of new regulation for banking and the capital markets, but also the creation of a Banking Union. During this time, EU institutions were highly active in pushing through new legislative proposals, with a broad package of reforms adopted on 15 April – Europe’s own ‘Super Tuesday’. For AFME and for our members, 2014 saw seen sustained technical work and continued close engagement with policymakers and regulators, which continued into the Level 2 rulemaking phase.