Financial Services Dealmakers Summit

Under the theme "Navigating Future Growth", DACH and CEE's leading event for financial services (FS) dealmakers is returning this year for another great edition!

Building on 8 successful editions, we will re-unite the region’s key players leading the market across banking, insurance, asset management, real estate, debt and equity investing!

In 2025, financial services M&A is poised for a cautiously optimistic rebound, building on the strategic momentum of 2024, which, despite low deal volumes, saw a rise in megadeals and deal values. Already in the first half of 2025 global FS deal values increased by approximately 15% compared to the first half of 2024, despite a 1% decline in deal volumes.

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and competitive margin pressures continuing to weigh on the sector, the pressure on financial services players to adapt to changing competitive dynamics is underpinning deals across geographies and subsectors, as the current environment presents an opportunity for dealmakers to be proactive and take bold actions to shape their future.

Dealmaking remains a vital lever for FS players to reshape their models, pursue growth, and respond to shifting client expectations and technological disruption. In this environment, acquisitions will likely focus on boosting revenue and margins, with particular interest in fintech partnerships to enable innovation and embedded finance capabilities.

Simultaneously, divestitures are expected to accelerate, helping firms streamline portfolios and reallocate capital to more profitable, future-oriented segments.

With a mix of panel discussions and keynote presentations attended by selected industry representatives, we will explore leading themes shaping the financial services industry today!

Financial Services M&A

• Latest deals shaping the region competitive landscape

• Trends and drivers of M&A in financial services industry: scale and leverage, business model reinvention and adaptation, competition from non-traditional players

• Role of Private Equity in Financial Services M&A

• Post-M&A Integration

• Outlook, i.e. expectations and predictions for M&A in the industry

Alternative investments

• The transformation of the NPL market, between hopes of re-ignition and the threat of irrelevance

• The remarkable rise of private credit as a challenger to traditional bank lending 

• Is credit servicing outsourcing ready to go mainstream or will it remain a niche business?

Real Estate market

• Causes and consequences of recent (C)RE market downturn

• Impact of macro-economic (e.g. interest rate development) and geopolitical factors on RE demand

• Strategies for managing distressed real estates

• Opportunities in the current RE landscape

Asset Quality

• What's the latest state of banks' balance sheets? Are the latest NPL ratio increases at European level a sign of "looming doom" or just a "correction" after years of growth?
• How is geopolitics impacting credit risk steering and how to steer for the major uncertainty it brings?
• Regulatory developments and their impact on asset quality: are banks Basel IV ready?

Capital Management

• How can banks use 3rd party investors to manage more efficiently their capital, given also the expected regulatory driven chagnes, such as CRR 3 or ESG buffers?
• Is the significant risk transfer (SRT) market a solution for organic capital growth? Can we now talk about a mature SRT market or are we still in its infancy stages potential-wise? What are the next development frontiers for this instrument?
• Will the latest European Commission revision of the securitisation framework drive more appetite into the European securitisation market?

Highlights from the last edition

Last year's edition, 'Turning the Tide', brought together over 130 senior financial services professionals from the region and across Europe. It was a full day packed with insightful panels and keynote speeches. Take a look at the highlights from this impactful event: