I believe politicians and other stakeholders should indeed be alert. Losing the stock exchange would be another blow to the Dutch financial sector which has already lost significance over the last few years. While public opinion (including many politicians) focuses its attention on executive pay, notably bonuses, there are more important things to worry about. The hype around bonuses should be defused (“de-newsed”): attention should be focused on the vitality of the financial sector in a broader sense.

Without a strong financial sector, i.e. a sound number of diverse banks, private equity companies, insurers and a stock exchange, our economy will do much worse. The financial sector is a condition for a healthy corporate sector and development of the real economy.    

 

Likewise a strong financial sector is needed to facilitate the transition towards a more efficient, clean and green economy. It is simply foolish to believe that this transition will ever be realized without finance.

Obviously banks and other financial institutions still have to proof their social usefulness to many. The reputation of bankers is terrible. However, anybody who promotes the transition towards a sustainable economy should quit bashing bankers and look for new ways of cooperation.    

 

Hopefully the fact that politicians are worrying about the future of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange is a signal that the mood around the financial sector is changing. The sector still has a lot to improve. But we should all realize that we are better off with a financial sector that can still do better, than with no financial sector at all.