Membership

Who we are

CREFC Europe is the trade association for real estate lenders and finance markets in Europe. CREFC in the United States is our sister organisation.

We are a non-profit association offering our members opportunities to network, collaborate and learn, to explore the forces driving structural change, and to help shape the European real estate debt market and understand and influence its regulatory framework.

Around 170 corporate members include bank and non-bank lenders, debt investors, rating agencies, loan servicers, lawyers and other advisers, as well as real estate firms.

What we do

As the collective voice of the industry, we seek to lead on the regulatory, best practice and education aspects of real estate finance. In particular, we:

• Provide information, professional development and networking opportunities to members and other market participants
• Organise learning, networking and other programming for young professionals, women and others through member-led committees for dedicated networks
• Advocate for our industry to regulators and policymakers to support better policymaking, and provide feedback and insights to members about policy dialogues
• Promote awareness and understanding of our industry among borrowers and capital providers and in the media, collaborating with other industry organisations as appropriate
• Take a long-term, strategic, holistic approach to promote conditions that allow market participants to prosper and adapt in a changing and uncertain world, while supporting the real economy responsibly and delivering returns to investors.

Our Board of Directors oversees an agile and dedicated executive team focusing resources as needed (current priorities include financial regulation, back leverage, sustainability and distress), and our activities are conducted in compliance with our competition policy.

Membership Benefits

Membership offers the chance to be part of the conversation that helps shape the future of Europe’s real estate finance industry. Since the global financial crisis, our sector has proved vulnerable to regulatory change which has had many unintended consequences. More recently, structural changes accelerated, revealed or provoked by the pandemic and the broader, growing focus on climate change and ESG considerations add to the challenges and uncertainties facing real estate lenders and those seeking finance. You can stay informed about that shifting landscape to support your own business, and help us try to safeguard the industry’s future by informing and participating in our dialogue with regulators.

Membership is corporate, so all staff can enjoy the networking, learning and influencing opportunities we offer, including:

• Attendance free of charge at our industry seminars and webinars
• Access to invitation-only events like our annual summer reception and the launch of the national property debt reports we support
• Preferential rates to enjoy our conferences (and occasional other paid events) in person or digitally (live or on demand), as well as the events organised by CREFC in the US (Investor Members, whether investing in real estate debt or real estate, may be entitled to complimentary access to our conferences)
• The ability to get involved in working groups and forums to engage collectively with issues affecting our sector or a part of it, creating industry guidelines or educating regulators and market participants about particular topics
• News and information about market and regulatory developments and our own activities through our weekly newsletter and other communications and briefings.

Our membership year is the calendar year (we may agree to pro-rate the membership fee to the nearest quarter for those joining during the course of the year).

Fees

The main membership rate is £5,600+ VAT. A reduced rate of £2,800 + VAT applies for organisations with no more than ten people involved in CRE finance in Europe.

Firms that invest in CRE debt without an origination platform of their own (for example as bond investors or limited partners in CRE debt funds) are eligible to join as Investor Members at a special rate of £1,600 + VAT. Real estate firms (i.e. borrowers/sponsors) that are not also involved in CRE loan origination are also eligible to join as Investor Members  at a cost of £1,600 + VAT.