Presentation of the Slovenian financial environment and opportunities to banking & financial institutions in New York

The event was attended by representatives of elite New York banks and financial institutions, including Bloomberg, CITIGroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, Millennium, Noerr, Paypal holdings, PwC, Ziemba, Brunello Cuccienelli, as well as a representative of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

In her opening remarks, Yvonne Bendinger-Rothschild, Executive Director of the European American Chamber of Commerce New York (EACCNY), said that in the current global political environment, it is important to present European financial markets as safe, well-managed and capital-sufficient.

Ambassador Mirošič emphasized that the year 2025 poses many challenges for transatlantic relations, for relations between the European Union and the United States of America. Transatlantic economic cooperation is the largest in the world and represents 43 percent of global gross domestic product and 30 percent of global trade. The agreement on customs and investment promotion and strengthening service cooperation represents the framework for further European-American cooperation.

The year 2024 was exceptional for trade between Slovenia and the US, as the US rose from 23rd to 12th place among Slovenia's most important trading partners, with a mutual trade value of 2.2 billion euros. Slovenia is an export-oriented economy, and the Embassy of Slovenia is also working to strengthen cooperation in the field of science and technology, including quantum and artificial intelligence, through deepening trade relations with the US. The Slovenian export industry is based on niche SMEs. There is particular potential in the bio-technology sector.

State Secretary Nikolina Prah said that the Slovenian capital market is small, and we are trying to strengthen it. In March 2023, Slovenia adopted the first capital market development strategy, which will contribute to greater recognition of the Slovenian capital market and improve the business environment for investing in the capital market. The strategy is based on three pillars - digitalization and increasing the inclusion of SMEs in the capital market, creating additional supply on the capital market in the form of bonds, and promoting financial literacy of people.

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Slovenia Primož Dolenc highlighted Slovenia as a bank-oriented economy, the banking system is resilient, with low to moderate financial risk. Slovenia has been in the euro monetary system since 2007. The key objective of European monetary policy is to maintain price stability.

The discussion focused mainly on the challenges in financial awareness of the population, including within the school system and the private sector, the need for an EU financial center, trends in the real estate market, and the need to increase financial spending for defense purposes. In order to attract foreign investment, especially American, harmonization of regional financial regulations is necessary, which will contribute to overcoming barriers to market entry.

Due to the lack of a competitive financial center in Europe, the desire for a common capital market is growing, but this is moving too slowly. The real estate market lacks supply and investment opportunities, while investment in real estate is replacing capital investments, which is why prices are extremely high. A housing reform is currently underway.

In Slovenia, the growing demand for neo banks is putting pressure on traditional banks and forcing them to develop their own technological solutions. In the European Union, investment in digitalization is still low, while the quality of services is still high.

Slovenia will gradually increase defense spending, despite the awareness that this is a significant increase in the use of public funds. The lack of defense solutions is not helping public dissatisfaction.

The event took place at the premises of the Greenberg Traurig law firm, at the prestigious One Vanderbilt location.