EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin is visiting South Korea and Japan this week to meet investors and financial institutions as the EU seeks to deepen ties with Asian markets and broaden demand for EU-issued bonds.
Serafin, whose portfolio covers the EU budget, anti-fraud and public administration, is holding talks focused on geopolitical developments, the international role of European capital markets and the EU’s bond issuance, the Commission informed on Tuesday.
The EU is one of the biggest issuers of euro-denominated securities and the third-largest issuer of AAA-rated sovereign debt globally.
In Seoul on Monday, Serafin met representatives from the Bank of Korea and the Korea Investment Corporation.
On Tuesday, he met Korean investors and lenders including Samsung Asset Management, Shinhan Bank, the Export–Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) and Kookmin Bank.
Tokyo meetings with finance ministry and major institutions
Serafin is due to travel to Tokyo on Wednesday to meet Japan’s Minister of Finance, Satsuki Katayama, to discuss the EU–Japan economic and financial relationship and cooperation in capital markets, the Commission said.
He is also scheduled to visit the Bank of Japan and meet Dai-Ichi Life, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group during the Japan leg of the trip.
On Thursday, Serafin is set to hold further talks with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nomura Securities, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund and Nippon Life.
