Almost one year after financial market turmoil triggered a financial and economic crisis in the countries of the European Union (EU), many reforms of the financial sector are still not in place and destabilising practices are continuing. Political agreements at several high-level international and European meetings still need to become legally binding through EU directives and the subsequent incorporation into national laws. Will the financial sector reforms currently proposed at the EU level guarantee financial stability and protect the real economy from financial speculators? More importantly, will they create financial instruments at the service of the public interest and sustainable societies, and tackle the systemic causes that also are related to the food, environmental and poverty crisis?