The EU’s envisaged “Savings and Investments Union” is a renewed attempt to strengthen its capital markets and improve the growth outlook. The Draghi report estimates that additional investment of EUR 750 bn p.a. is needed to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness. The lion’s share will have to come from private, not public investment. Europe traditionally has a bank-based financial system, but bank financing has limits – capital markets will have to play a key role in facilitating the flow of funds into productive investments. This slide deck looks at where Europe’s capital markets stand today, benchmarking them against the US. It dives into various segments, notably the capacity of (1) stock markets and corporate bond markets to provide alternative funding opportunities for businesses; (2) risk capital markets to fund young, innovative companies; and (3) the securitisation market to allow banks to free up capital and lend more to the economy.