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Financial deepening – how can we finance productivity growth and transition in small and medium sized economies?

Event type

two-day conference

Date

Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Thursday, October 2, 2025

Venue

Sheraton Bratislava
Pribinova 12
81109 Bratislava, Slovakia

Registration

Registration Form

In cooperation with
Financial deepening – how can we finance productivity growth and transition in small and medium sized economies?
Financial deepening – how can we finance productivity growth and transition in small and medium sized economies?
O národnej banke, Financial deepening – how can we finance productivity growth and transition in small and medium sized economies?

Small and medium-sized European economies face unique challenges in financing productivity, innovation, and the green transition, often within tight fiscal constraints and bank-dominated financial systems. To explore solutions, ECMI, NBS, CEPS, and SUERF are co-hosting a two-day conference in Bratislava on 1–2 October 2025, focused on the question: How can we finance productivity, growth and transition in small and medium-sized economies?  The program combines new research with high-level policy dialogue across five themes: Financial deepening in CEE, Banking and financial inclusion, Geopolitics and finance, Firms’ financing needs, and Green financial policy.

We look forward to welcoming you to Bratislava on 1–2 October 2025 to explore the latest research and shape the agenda for Europe’s smaller economies.

Scientific Committee
Ernest Gnan, SUERF; Florian Horky, NBS; Jan Klacso, NBS; Karel Lannoo, CEPS; Jochen Mankart, NBS; Reiner Martin, NBS & SUERF; Apostolos Thomadakis, CEPS & ECMI

Record of event
Program
  • Wednesday, 1 October 2025
    Day 1

    08:30

    Registration & Coffee

    09:00

    Welcome

    Reiner Martin, Executive Director · National Bank of Slovakia

    Policy Panel 1

    09:10

    Financial deepening in CEE: central bank perspective

    Chair:
    Peter Kažimír, Governor · National Bank of Slovakia
    Panelists:
    Klaas Knot, former President · De Nederlandsche Bank
    Martin Kocher, Governor · Oesterreichische Nationalbank
    Gediminas Šimkus, Chair of the Board · Lietuvos bank
    Mihály Varga, Governor · Magyar Nemzeti Bank
    Boštjan Vasle, former Governor · Banka Slovenije

    10:25

    NBS Governor’s Award for Best Thesis in Economics

    10:35

    Coffee

    Policy Panel 2

    11:00

    Financial deepening in CEE: which concrete next steps next?

    Chair:
    Reiner Martin, Executive Director · National Bank of Slovakia
    Panelists:
    Karel Lannoo, Chief Executive Officer · CEPS
    Gottfried Haber, Chairman · Supervisory Board of Erste Group Bank AG
    Reinhard Felke, Director · DG ECFIN, European Commission
    Michaela Kršková · European Innovation Council

    12:15

    Lunch

    Keynote Lecture

    13:30

    Securities Losses, Interbank Markets, and Monetary Policy Transmission: Evidence from the Eurozone

    Mariassunta Giannetti, Professor of Finance · Stockholm School of Economics
    Chair:
    Michal Horváth, Chief Economist · National Bank of Slovakia

    Session 1

    14:30

    Financial Inclusion

    Chair:
    Julia Wörz, Oesterreichische Nationalbank

    Systemic Implications of Financial Inclusion
    Farah Mugrabi, Central Bank of Ireland
    Co-author(s): Sami Ben Naceur, Bertrand Candelon

    Discussant: Michael Sigmund, Oesterreichische Nationalbank

    15:15

    Coffee

    Session 2

    15:45

    Banking Developments

    Chair:
    Júlia Čillíková, National Bank of Slovakia

    The changing geography of banking in CESEE: Branch openings and closures
    Jette Leonie Weinel, Oesterreichische Nationalbank
    Co-author(s): Elisabeth Beckmann, Katharina Allinger

    Discussant: Martin Götz, Deutsche Bundesbank

    Bank Specialization and the Transmission of Euro Area Monetary Policy
    Konrad Kuhmann, Latvijas Banka

    Discussant: Mary Everett, Central Bank of Ireland

    17:15

    End – Day 1

    19:00

    Conference Dinner

  • Thursday, October 2, 2025
    Day 2

    Session 3

    09:00

    Geopolitics and the Financial Sector

    Chair: Zuzana Fungáčová, Bank of Finland

    Geopolitical Risk, Cost of Equity, and Lending: Evidence From the Ukrainian War
    Emiel Sanders, Universiteit Gent
    Co-author(s): Rudi Vander Vennet

    Discussant: Ursula Vogel, Deutsche Bundesbank

    A Geopolitical Shock to Bank Assets and Monetary Policy Transmission
    Falko Fecht, Deutsche Bundesbank
    Co-author(s): Bjoern Imbierowicz, Stefan Greppmair

    Discussant: Miguel Boucinha, European Central Bank

    10:30

    Coffee

    Session 4

    11:00

    Firms’ Financing Behavior

    Chair: Ernest Gnan, SUERF

    From Financial Stability to Real Investment: The Confidence Channel of Macroprudential Policy
    Stelios Giannoulakis, Hellenic Parliamentary Budget Office
    Co-author(s): Dimitris Anastasiou

    Discussant: Maria Siranova, Slovak Academy of Science, Commenius University Bratislava

    Bank Loan Application and Access to Finance by European SMEs
    Florian Horky, National Bank of Slovakia & Zeppelin Universität
    Co-author(s): Jan Klasco, Reiner Martin, Jarko Fidrmuc

    Discussant: Annalisa Ferrando, European Central Bank

    12:30

    Lunch

    Keynote Lecture

    13:30

    Into the Shadows: Banks and Transparency

    Steven Ongena, Professor of banking · University of Zurich (UZH)

    Chair: Jochen Mankart, National Bank of Slovakia

    14:30

    Coffee

    Session 5

    15:00

    Green Financial Policy

    Chair: Julien Toth, International Sustainable Finance Centre

    Upgrading housing: the potential and limits of borrower-based measures
    Jan Klasco, National Bank of Slovakia
    Co-author(s): Pierre Monin, Adam Banai, Kristina Bojare, Reiner Martin, Janos Szakacs

    Discussant: Alessandro Chiari, Česká národní banka

    Financial Deepening and Carbon Emissions Intensity: Evidence from a Global Sample of Countries
    Boris Fisera, Slovak Academy of Science
    Co-author(s): Martin Melecky, Dorothe Singer

    Discussant: Vladimir Otrachshenko, National Bank of Slovakia