Daniela Secară, CEO of BT Capital Partners, took part in the EBRD 2026 Annual Meeting & Business Forum, on the "How regional capital markets boost competitiveness" panel, held in Riga, Latvia.

At the core of the discussion was the critical role that strong regional capital markets play in strengthening financial resilience and boosting economic competitiveness. Participants also discussed the challenges of integrating capital markets, looking at the main barriers that affect this process and the options available to address them.

A selection of remarks by Daniela Secară is below, and the full discussion can be watched here.

On the challenges and effects of the current economic environment on investments:

• With Romania recording one of the highest inflation rates in Europe, conversations about how people can protect their savings have become increasingly frequent.
  
  
• For many investors, the first step was to turn to retail government bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance. These offer yields comparable to the government’s cost of funding and a higher level of safety, especially for those shifting part of their savings out of deposits. While bank deposits remain substantial, developments in recent years point to a clear shift in saving and investment behaviour.
  
  
• In this context, the number of retail investors has increased significantly. Moreover, starting from these instruments seen as safe, more and more investors are beginning to look at the equity market as well.
  
  
• Financial education, however, remains essential. In parallel with these developments, riskier trends have also appeared, such as investments in crypto, betting or various fraudulent schemes, which often lead to financial losses. It is important for investors to better understand how the capital market works, what investing entails, and how to distinguish between genuine financial instruments and alternatives that are not true investments.
  
  

On the challenges facing regional capital markets: 

• At EU level, legislation is roughly 90% aligned. Even so, in practice, the details make all the difference.
  
  
• As for infrastructure, nine years ago we were the first to enable euro settlement on the Romanian stock exchange. It was a difficult process. Securing all the necessary approvals was a major challenge to ensure a smooth and efficient settlement process.
  
  
• From this perspective, both seemingly minor factors and structural ones — such as taxation, infrastructure or the political backdrop — significantly influence the speed and complexity of implementation. In Romania, for example, frequent changes at government level add an extra degree of uncertainty. Streamlining processes and improving operational efficiency are essential to make it easier for companies to access the capital market and to accelerate project implementation.