EU competition policy in financial services – priorities for 2026

Maria Velentza

Director, Financial Institutions, Directorate General Competition

European Commission

After graduating from the German School of Athens, Maria continued her studies in Law at the University of Athens and in Paris where she specialised in European Community Law.

She qualified as a lawyer at the Athens bar, then she joined the EU Commission in the early 90s; since then she has worked in many policy fields, mainly in financial services and banking, but also freedom of establishment and regulated professions, pharmaceuticals and enterprise policy. Maria was responsible for a number of years for Capital markets, then for Financial Stability issues, including bank recovery and resolution, within the Directorate General of Internal Market and Financial Services of the EU Commission

In September 2011 Maria was one of the first members of the “Task Force for Greece” of the European Commission – which preceded the creation of DG REFORM; this structure, accompanyied the Greek adjustment program. Maria was responsible for three thematic areas: financial institutions and access to finance, broader business environment and competitiveness issues, justice and migration.

In 2015, she became responsible for macroprudential policy and systemic risk questions within the Financial Services Directorate General of the EU Commission.

In November 2016, she was appointed Director in the Directorate General of Competition for Financial Institutions where she covered antitrust, state aid and merger cases for the entire spectrum of financial services and institutions. She remained as a Director in this directorate until April 2021, whereas, in parallel, she took over the General Affairs Directorate responsible for strategic coordination and support for DG Competition.

Since June 2024 Maria is back as Director in the Director General of Competition for Financial Institutions.