More than eight in ten (83%) compliance professionals working in Irish financial services organisations believe a stronger EU Capital Markets Union (CMU) would create significant growth opportunities for the Irish financial services sector.
This is according to a new survey by Ireland's professional body for compliance professionals, the Compliance Institute, which polled 123 senior compliance experts working primarily in Irish financial services organisations nationwide, exploring their views on a stronger EU CMU and its potential impact on growth opportunities for the sector.
The CMU is an EU initiative which aims to deepen and further integrate the capital markets of EU member states[1].
Almost a third (31%) of compliance experts in the Irish financial services sector said a stronger CMU would “significantly” improve growth opportunities, while a further 52% believe it would do so “somewhat”. Just 9% said it would have no significant impact, 1% said no, and 7% believe it would actually lessen growth opportunities for the sector (see Appendix).
Commenting on the findings, Michael Kavanagh, CEO of the Compliance Institute, said:
“Our survey shows overwhelming support among Irish compliance professionals for a stronger EU Capital Markets Union, with the vast majority believing it would be a positive development for the financial services sector here.
A more integrated EU capital market could make it significantly easier for Irish firms to access funding, scale across borders and compete internationally. This mirrors what we saw in our members' response to a survey earlier this year on the proposed EU 28th regime[2], where there was similarly strong support for initiatives that reduce fragmentation and make it easier for Irish businesses to grow across the EU.”
There has been growing support for a more integrated EU capital market of late, with the Central Bank of Ireland Governor Gabriel Makhlouf recently calling for Europe to move faster to complete the single market[3].
Mr Kavanagh added:
“Reducing regulatory divergence is really the core issue for financial services organisations in Ireland. Ireland hosts a significant share of the global compliance functions for major multinational financial institutions, so any fragmentation - whether that's the gap between EU and US rules since the change in US administration, or different interpretations of the same EU rules from one member state to the next - creates real complexity and cost for the teams within these organisations. A stronger capital markets union could go some way to resolving these emerging issues.
Taken together, these findings point to a clear appetite within the sector for deeper EU market integration, provided it is designed and implemented carefully.”
In summer 2026, the Compliance Institute undertook a survey on the proposed EU '28th regime' - a planned single EU-wide legal framework. According to that survey, 90% of compliance professionals believe the 28th regime would improve growth and expansion opportunities for Irish firms.
The compliance experts say the research drives home the message that in the main, compliance professionals in Ireland’s financial services organisations are broadly supportive of EU-level reforms aimed at reducing fragmentation and making it easier for Irish businesses to access capital and scale across European markets.
[2] The 28th regime is a proposed new EU system that would allow any company to establish itself across all member states within 48 hours, using a single digital legal framework. As per European Parliament Explainer EU Inc.: what is the 28th regime?
