Best practices for financial services pre and post pandemic

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe, Leaseurope has been participating in a series of high-level meetings between regulators and financial sector stakeholders to discuss how the health crisis and subsequent lockdowns are affecting financial institutions and their customers. Before the summer of 2020, when the crisis was at its peak, these meetings revolved around emergency measures and a set of best practice guidelines was agreed by all parties. This included a variety of relief measures our industry engaged in to support overall economic stability and recovery, such as payment moratoria, facilitating cashless payments and keeping access to essential funding readily available. Another roundtable meeting took place in February 2021, which focused on the overall implementation of the best practice guidelines during 2020 and any issues that may have arisen.

Best practice guidelines

As the short-term emergency measures of 2020 begin to lessen, the medium-term landscape for financial services in a post-Covid-19 recovery phase begin to come more sharply into focus. The European Commission has recently indicated its intention to organise another roundtable meeting focusing more specifically on (debt) relief measures for consumers and businesses impacted by the crisis. How to adequately support vulnerable customers and ensure continued access to finance for those that need it will be a key component for any successful economic recovery. Leaseurope will continue to bring the perspective of the wider leasing industry to these discussions, both individually and via our membership of the European Banking Industry Committee (EBIC).