The resource you're requesting could not be located (404).

Note: As of early january 2019, BETTERFINANCE has a new website, and it seems the content you are trying to access has been moved or its address has been updated.
Here below is a list of what we think might be related to the content you're interested in.
40 search results

The document serves as BETTER FINANCE response to selected questions of ESMA’s discussion paper on the implications of digitalisation for investor protection under MiFID II. The document “Discussion Paper on MiFID II investor protection topics linked to digitalisation” provided by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) focuses on various aspects of digitalisation in the

ESMA Consultation Paper Guidelines on certain aspects of the MiFID II suitability requirements. BETTER FINANCE highlights that the new concepts introduced by the recent regulatory amendments may be difficult to understand by individual, non-professional investors, creating the risk for them to avoid making a decision or making a wrong decision. In this sense, we suggest

More than a year after the entry into force of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and of the Regulation on Key Information Document for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs KID), BETTER FINANCE sought the views and experience of its member associations and their individual members on the effectiveness of

BETTER FINANCE welcomes the initiative of ESMA to clarify certain aspects related to the application of the MiFID II provisions on the appropriateness test and requirements for execution-only services. In addition, BETTER FINANCE commends ESMA on adapting the Guidelines on suitability assessment for the appropriateness test as the two procedures are, to a certain extent,

We welcome the EC’s initiative to alleviate some regulatory requirements enabling EU capital markets’ potential to boost recovery from the COVID-19 induced economic downturn. However, we wish to warn about the long-term detrimental effects that several provisions and amendments will have on “retail” investor protection if done in “haste” and without proper scrutiny and attention

Summary: General comment The review of the MiFID II framework is timely and should be coordinated with the other ongoing actions and policy areas, i.e. PRIIPs and the work done in the Forum on the Future of the Capital Markets Union. In addition, to ensure a level playing field, the European Commission should also adopt

BETTER FINANCE welcomes this timely assessment and evidence gathering on the application of the new MiFID II rules on disclosure for inducements and costs. However, it is very unfortunate that, in a field that is crucial to investor protection and designed to enhance consumer experience and trust in financial services, the majority of questions are

BETTER FINANCE continues to express deep concern about the unwanted “side-effects” of the MiFID 2 regulatory framework on “lit” equity trading in the EU. Below is the summary response to the ESMA Public Consultation on the review of the MiFID 2 and MiFIR transparency regime for equity and equity-like instruments, the double volume cap mechanism

The European Commission is probing the effectiveness of the product governance rules introduced to the industry in 2018 in its latest consultation on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid). […] In a 94-page consultation document, published yesterday (February 26), the commission stated there was some debate over the efficiency of product requirements and asked participants

Asset managers are urging Brussels to delay implementation of its landmark sustainable investing rules. The resistance from the investment industry shows the struggle and complexity between policymakers´ambitions to push for greener finances and the harsh reality of implementing a new financial system. The rules are expected to come into force in March 2021, a deadline

Brussels, 4 June 2020 – On 29 April 2020 the heads of European and Member State organisations representing individual shareholders across Europe sent an Open Letter to the European Commission (EC) opposing lobbying attempts led by powerful financial intermediaries to postpone the implementation of the Shareholder Rights Directive II (SRD II). Their call has now

The EU institutions are concerned that public markets will become less efficient and share prices less accurate if dark pools grab a sizable share of equity trading. Indeed, stock trading grew faster in European dark pools last year than it did on public exchanges. According to broker and equity-market operator Investment Technology Group Inc., public

BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, sent a letter to EU Commissioner Hill regarding the MiFID II delay. BEUC argues that MiFID II rules would increase investor protection and that consumers would greatly benefit from their implementation. Considering that the main obstacles in implementing the law are linked to the part on reporting duties, which are

MiFID II, the law which is said to transform markets, was delayed. As one of the most wide-ranging pieces of European financial legislation, MiFID II has proved challenging to implement. The law aims to reduce systemic risk, ensure transparency in the markets and bolster levels of investor protection. The delay of the directive, which tackles

Following criticism by Scandinavia’s financial industry of the European Banking Authority’s proposal for reporting requirement for capital buffers, backed by the European Banking Federation in Brussels, the European Commission decided to delay the scheduled plans for one month. Bankers’ associations in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland are urging the Commission to reject this set of

Guillaume Prache, Managing Director at Better Fiannce, was quoted in the Financial Time on the postponement of the vote on the regulations aimed at setting tougher standards for benchmarks such as Euribor and the improvement of investor protection. The vote, expected last week, was postponed following last-minute legal objections from the Social Democrat and Green political parties. Being one

BETTER FINANCE’s full Response to the Targeted Consultation on SRDs – Shareholder Rights Directives (SRD1 and SRD2) for the European Commission by the CSES — [15 December 2023]. BETTER FINANCE advocates for the enforcement of investors’ and shareholders’ rights, underscoring the pivotal role of engagement as a cornerstone within robust green transition plans and corporate

BETTER FINANCE members UK Shareholders’ Association and ShareSoc (UK Individual Shareholders Society) published a letter expressing disappointment in the news that the UK government is abandoning some of its reforms to accounting standards: It is difficult to overstate the disappointment of investors, and other users of corporate information, at the news that the UK government

The European Commission has issued the Delegated Act on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to enhance transparency in sustainability reporting by companies. However, it faces criticism for weakening key aspects of the initial proposal by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and neglecting vital concerns. Critics

On 3 April the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final guidelines on performance fees in investment funds, applicable to Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and certain types of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). These guidelines aim to provide rules for fund managers when charging performance fees to retail investors as

As the COVID-19 virus continues to spread around the world and emergency confinement measures have disrupted markets, bankers on both sides of the Atlantic have called for a relaxation of accounting standards introduced in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis, known as “expected credit loss provisioning”. These calls, like much bank lobbying attempting to influence capital regulation,

Fresh guidance from Europe’s markets watchdog has been hailed by BETTER FINANCE as a first step towards rooting out the practice of closet-indexing, also referred to as falsely active funds. Recently ESMA published an update to its question and answers document on the UCITS directive, aimed at fostering supervisory convergence among national regulators on the

This week, on the 19 December, the new rules for cross-border payments have been given a green light by EU, as announced by the European Commission on its Press release. Such an agreement will ensure that consumers and businesses in both euro and non-euro countries would benefit from the same transactions fees between the EA and

BETTER FINANCE welcomes yesterday’s vote of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee amending the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation. BETTER FINANCE has always strongly supported the aim of the PRIIPs Regulation since it is the first – and so far the only – “horizontal” EU set of investor protection rules

BETTER FINANCE welcomes yesterday’s vote of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee amending the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation. .

In June 2018 the ECON committee of the European Parliament published a study titled “Subordinated Debt and Self-placement: Mis-selling of Financial Products”. After five years of very diverse interpretations and applications of so-called “burden sharing” in bank recovery and resolution, also known as bail-in of subordinated bank creditors, the European Parliament’s ECON Committee examined whether

In June 2018 the ECON committee of the European Parliament published a study titled “Subordinated Debt and Self-placement: Mis-selling of Financial Products”. After five years of very diverse interpretations and applications of so-called “burden sharing” in bank recovery and resolution, also known as bail-in of subordinated bank creditors, the European Parliament’s ECON Committee examined whether

As pointed out at several occasions by BETTER FINANCE , EU citizens as savers are by nature mostly long-term driven, evidenced by the fact that 67% of their total assets are deployed in long-term investments (versus only 37% for pension funds – despite their purely long-term horizon – and 10% or less for insurers), and

As pointed out at several occasions by BETTER FINANCE , EU citizens as savers are by nature mostly long-term driven, evidenced by the fact that 67% of their total assets are deployed in long-term investments (versus only 37% for pension funds – despite their purely long-term horizon – and 10% or less for insurers), and

This report is a collaboration between analysts, actuaries, and researchers from consumer protection organisations. The purpose is to analyse and evaluate the fitness of a selection of life insurance companies’ solvency conditions and reporting. The solvency condition reflects how well-prepared an insurance company is to react and pay out insurance claims to policyholders in case

BETTER FINANCE finds that commission-based distribution models (kickbacks) cost individual investors up to 15% of their investments in sales commissions and generate conflicts of interest which severely hurt their performance. One of the main objectives of the European Commission’s “EU Strategy for Retail Investors” is to “ensure bias-free advice” for individual investors. It is meeting

In the study about the Solvency and Financial Condition Reports (SFCRs) – that have to be disclosed under the Solvency II Directive (Art. 51) – we take a closer look at eight different figures that are calculated and rated: Transparency, expressed on a point scale (from -2 to 19); Solvency ratio, expressed as a percentage

The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a blow to pension systems across Europe, heaping pressure on policymakers to introduce reforms to avoid a decades-long retirement crisis, according to an influential consumer group. Big increases in unemployment will shrink the tax revenues used to fund state pensions and reduce contributions to retirement saving schemes run by employers

Brussels, 20 July 2020 – The new composition of the European Supervisory Authorities’ (ESAs) “Stakeholder Groups” is a step backwards with regard to a balanced representation between industry and consumers in EU financial rulemaking. This is the result of the recent ESAs reform, which reduced the quotas for consumers and academics in favour of financial

“Savers across Europe with private pension plans endured a miserable year for performance in 2018 with widespread negative returns raising more concerns about the health of retirement systems across the region.” Read the full article on FTfm.

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

Emerging Financial Technology (Fintech) has a, seemingly endless, potential to drive efficiency gains and the disintermediation of financial services, thereby bringing about decreased transaction costs. Keeping in mind that Fintech so far remains relatively unchartered territory, regulatory measures and their effects on the future development of the industry make for heated discussions. Currently, as stated

The European Commission is hurrying to the retirement industry against EU legislation that could hurt the sector.  The European Market Infrastructure Regulation, passed in 2012, provides for an obligation for pension funds to put aside more money in order to comply with the EU legislation on derivatives trading. It sets minimal rules on the collateral