The Finance Connect Leaders’ Summit Europe 2026

Welcome to the Finance Connect Leaders’ Summit Europe 2026

In association with:

Now entering its third year – following successful editions in Brussels and Amsterdam – the Finance Connect Leaders’ Summit Europe 2026 is firmly established as the premier invitation-only forum for Europe’s most senior auto and equipment finance executives.

Following the Compass: Mapping a Changing Route for Auto and Equipment Finance

The 2026 summit will focus on how industry leaders can increase margins and retain resilience amid rising geopolitical risk, growing exposure to fraud, and rebalanced public policy priorities across Europe. Free to attend and strictly invitation-only, the event brings together senior decision-makers to chart opportunities and mitigate risks in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Geopolitics now drives economics. Trade is weaponised, supply chains redrawn, and EU policy is steering, via the Competitiveness Compass, toward greater unification, more internal investment, and the retention of a sustainability agenda that increasingly diverges from global trends.

At the same time, Europe faces additional challenges in financial services including a marked rise in fraud—particularly cyber-enabled fraud—that is affecting lenders, intermediaries, and customers across its borders.

Alongside this, private credit has become a critical and fast-expanding source of funding for non-bank lenders, yet its penetration, structures, and constraints differ significantly across EU markets.

Against this backdrop, the summit will explore how senior auto and equipment finance leaders can navigate uncertain economic conditions, build profits, fight cyber-crime, deliver resilience to its customers, and access the wholesale funding needed to fill a €400-600bn funding gap for SMEs; an over reliance on bank-funding;  and a still-to-be-completed Capital Markets Union.

Explore the agenda here.

Why attend:

• Get briefed on the progress of change in the EU as it responds to external threats, fraud risks, and the need for deeper, more flexible sources of private and institutional capital.
• Debate with industry colleagues on how geopolitical, technological, and financial developments are reshaping business models—and how lenders are responding.
• Network with Europe’s leading auto and equipment lenders in Cologne. 

Senior attendees are expected from the EU’s largest banks, manufacturer captives (including members of the Captives Forum), independent lenders, and the world’s most innovative specialist technology providers for equipment finance and other industry suppliers.

If you are interested in attending the event, please submit your application for consideration or contact evalindsay@finance-connect.com.

The Finance Connect Leaders’ Summit Europe 2026 offers a rare, high-level environment for strategic discussion, insight sharing, and relationship building at a time of profound change for the auto and equipment finance industry.

Interested in sponsorship opportunities at the Finance Connect Leaders’ Summit Europe 2026? Reach senior decision-makers from leading finance providers, spark meaningful conversations, and position your brand as a sector leader. To explore packages that drive qualified engagement and real opportunities, contact: Joe Nilsson, Finance Connect’s Business Development Director at joenilsson@finance-connect.com

Exclusive Pre-Summit Gathering

The evening before the event, Alfa will host an exclusive pre-Summit gathering at Art’otel Cologne from 8pm – a relaxed and stylish opportunity for networking with fellow delegates, speakers, and senior Alfa leaders.

Expect an evening of great conversation, drinks, and views of Cologne’s city skyline.

We look forward to welcoming you there.

Date: Monday 9 March
Venue: Art’otel Cologne, Holzmarkt 4, Cologne
Time: 8.00pm

Headline Sponsor:

Alfa has been delivering leading-edge technology to the global asset finance and leasing industry since 1990. Our specialised expertise enables us to deliver the most challenging systems transformation projects successfully. 

Alfa Systems, our class-leading SaaS platform, is at the heart of the world’s largest and most progressive asset finance operations. Supporting all types of automotive, equipment and wholesale finance, Alfa Systems is proven at volume and across borders, and trusted by leading brands to manage complex portfolios, drive efficiency and sustainability, and enhance the customer experience. 

With full functionality for originations, servicing and collections, Alfa Systems is live in 36 countries, representing an integrated point solution, a rapid off-the-shelf implementation, or an end-to-end platform for the complex global enterprise.

Alfa maintains exceptional customer satisfaction through an impeccable track record, with our experience and performance unrivalled in the industry. Our customers stick with us for the long term, because we deliver value that lasts for decades. 

Alfa has offices all over Europe, Australasia and the Americas. For more information, visit us at alfasystems.com or on LinkedIn.