EU commissioner expresses will to set up capital markets union

European Commissioner for financial services Jonathan Hill here on Thursday expressed his resolve to set up an EU capital markets union.

"I would like us to create an integrated, well-regulated and liquid Capital Markets Union. One that creates a 'home market' of all 28 EU member states," Hill said at a high-level conference with the theme of "Finance for growth -- Towards a Capital Markets Union."

"My ambition is clear: to help unlock the capital around Europe that is currently frozen and put it to work in support of Europe's businesses, particularly SMEs. And that is where the Capital Markets Union, a new frontier of Europe's single market, comes in, " Hill said.

Concerning financial stability, he said good regulation underpins financial stability. It was a lack of regulation that contributed to the financial crisis.

"But right now, there is something else that threatens financial stability: lack of growth," he said.

He said he was to be "looking at everything I do through the prism of jobs and growth." And he expressed the hope that financial services could be seen as part of the economic mainstream, not cut off from society at large.

The conference was centered on issues such as how to kick-start growth, how to bring together public and private funding, how to increase the options businesses have for financing and how to get our economies back on track for the longer term.