This document provides you with key information about this Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP). It is not marketing material. The information is required by law to help you understand the nature, risks, costs, potential gains and losses of this personal pension product and to help you compare it with other PEPPs
A month before the International investor conference and the meeting of the European Federation of Investors and the Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE) and the World Federation of Investors (WFI) in Slovenia, the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) published an interview with the VZMD President, mag. Kristjan Verbič. In it, mag. Verbič touches on the main topics of
At BETTER FINANCE, we closely monitor various Member States’ legal frameworks regarding the rights of individual investors and minority shareholders. We firmly believe that among the most important rights of minority shareholders one has to include the right to organise collectively and the right to seek professional assistance. Such rights are often exercised through the
BETTER FINANCE’s response to the questionnaire on the development of EU Ecolabel criteria for financial products.
Proxy advisers have been mired in controversy due to perceived conflicts of interest and doubts about the adequacy of their resources. They are predicted to remain at the centre of attention, particularly after the launch of the “name-and-shame” register in the United Kingdom, providing details of those companies that failed to attain 80 per cent
BETTER FINANCE welcomes this opportunity to comment on the proposal amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 supplementing MiFID II as regards organizational requirements and operating conditions for investment firms and defined terms for the purpose of that directive. Investment firms shall act in accordance with the best interest of their clients. As such, when providing investment
Earlier this year BETTER FINANCE called on policy makers to put an end to financial abuses by ensuring better public enforcement of conduct of business rules and introducing an EU-wide framework for Collective Redress in order to facilitate effective private enforcement. Now the European Commissioner for Justice and Consumer Affairs is calling for an EU-wide
BETTER FINANCE supports the idea of moving trading from OTC markets to regulated trading venues, and of the differentiation between bilateral and multilateral trading activities in order to protect the price formation process on transparent regulated venues and be able to have a real level playing field.
This paper tries to assess the regulatory and, more importantly, the supervisory (public enforcement) developments regarding the actual protection of savers, individual investors and mortgage borrowers since the 2008 financial crisis, in particular regarding the mis-selling of savings, investment and mortgage products.
On November 18, US federal authorities announced that the largest category of victims in the vast Ponzi scheme run by Bernard L. Madoff –those who lost cash trough accounts with various middleman funds – can benefit from a $ 2.35 billion fund to compensate for their losses. The Madoff Victim Fund, overseen by Special Master
BETTER FINANCE welcomes this unique initiative from EIOPA as an example of best practice in terms of supervision and investor protection, not only at the EU level but on the global regulatory scene, especially given the architecture of the distribution market for retail investment products. EU savers have been slowly diverted from direct investments towards
BETTER FINANCE believes that the main challenges and opportunities for next 10 years will be: Reorienting the equity and bond funding towards sustainable investments. The identification of sustainable investments must be based on facts and science, not on emotions and ideologies, and on the probability to have a positive impact on the environment, society and
Below please find the European Commission Reply to the Open Letter by BETTER FINANCE and its members against any postponement of the implementation of the Shareholder Rights Directive II.
Traditionally, in most EU Member States, people count on the state-based pension. Only in big companies occupational pension schemes are accepted more broadly if not compulsory. In many Members States, personal pension products are little used because of complexity, high fees, not transparent contract clauses and recently the low interest rate phase, which reduces the
BETTER FINANCE REPLY TO THE CONSULTATION PAPER ON THE PROPOSAL FOR GUIDELINES UNDER THE INSURANCE DISTRIBUTION DIRECTIVE ON INSURANCE-BASED INVESTMENT PRODUCTS THAT INCORPORATE A STRUCTURE WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR THE CUSTOMER TO UNDERSTAND THE RISKS INVOLVED
BETTER FINANCE provides its response to the joint consultation launched by ESMA and EBA.
BETTER FINANCE took part in the consultation on the Potential Harmonization of Recovery and and Resolution Frameworks for Insurers launched by EIOPA ( European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority). With this consultation, EIOPA will develop its view on harmonising recovery and resolution frameworks for insurers and might publish an Opinion addressed to the EU institutions.
BETTER FINANCE provides its response to ESMA’s Consultation on the draft guidelines on MiFID governance requirements.
BETTER FINANCE keenly supports the European Commission’s proposal to launch a Pan-European Personal Pension product (PEPP) as a key component of the Capital Markets Union (CMIU) initiative. The extreme fragmentation of the numerous EU markets in Personal Pension Products (PPP) hampers the development of badly needed economies of scale. BETTER FINANCE strongly doubts that any
BETTER FINANCE keenly supports the European Commission’s proposal to launch a Pan-European Personal Pension product (PEPP) as a key component of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative. The extreme fragmentation of the numerous EU markets in Personal Pension Products (PPP) hampers the development of badly needed economies of scale. BETTER FINANCE strongly doubts that any
BETTER FINANCE welcomes the European Commission’s WHT FASTER Proposal that has to potential to bring procedural progress in addressing longstanding obstacles to tax recovery for investors dealing with their cross-border investment income. We applaud an EU-wide framework to streamline withholding tax (WHT) refund modalities under common reporting, and support its digitalisation addressing the current hurdle
On Tuesday, 19 September from 15:00 to 16:30 in the European Parliament in Brussels, a public hearing on the “New EU common system for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax abuse in the area of withholding taxes” will take place. The hearing aims to address the burdensome withholding tax refund procedures for
BETTER FINANCE supports the recent proposal put forth by the European Commission, aimed at simplifying the reimbursement of cross-border withholding taxes. Guillaume Prache, the Managing Director of BETTER FINANCE, expresses cautious optimism and states, “This proposal, which was swiftly introduced following a joint study conducted by BETTER FINANCE and DSW – Germany’s leading association for
Many investors commonly use the strategy of investing in dividend stocks. Yet, investors holding foreign shares often have to pay additional withholding tax on dividends in the respective country. A recent survey conducted by BETTER FINANCE and DSW[1] among 3,000 investors across the EU found that withholding tax (WHT) refund procedures are cumbersome and costly,
A recent survey conducted by BETTER FINANCE and DSW among 3000 investors across the EU found that withholding tax (WHT) refund procedures are cumbersome and costly, making it difficult or financially unreasonable for non-professional investors to reclaim excess withholding tax on cross-border dividend income. More than 90% of European investors find the WHT reclaim procedure
[ARCHIVED: This survey is now closed] The refund of withholding taxes on dividends – to avoid double taxation – can be a complicated procedure for private investors/shareholders across the European Union. Many factors must be taken into account, including the tax residence of the shareholder and the country of the issuer (the listed company), administrative
Individual, non-professional (“retail”) investors are significantly demotivated or hampered from investing cross-border within the EU due to: The widespread de facto double taxation of investment income within the “Single Market” (for example the so-called Belgian-French Tax Treaty to avoid double taxation is in reality organizing the double taxation of Belgian residents holding shares of French-domiciled
Keynote address by Jella Benner-Heinacher on market structures, “retail” investors, and payments for order flows (PFOF) Thank you for the invitation and congratulations to FESE to organize such an impressive conference in Prague. I would have loved to be personally in this beautiful city of Prague but unfortunately, I can only attend virtually. Nevertheless, I
There is bad news for Belgian investors as Belgium and France have reformed a new tax treaty which, according to two sources close to the negotiators, would stop the Cour de cassation, one of the four courts of last resort in France, from allowing it to reduce the double imposition of dividends. The current convention
At the beginning of February 2018, in support of the Capital Markets Union initiative, the European Commission released a Code of Conduct on Withholding Tax (WHT) aimed at reducing barriers hampering cross-border investments for investors by reducing the double taxation whereby the investor is taxed both at the source of the dividend as well as