On 19 October 2023, BETTER FINANCE together with BEUC, Finance Watch and WWF, published a public letter addressed to Ms. Yon-Courtin and to the European Parliament’s shadow rapporteurs, expressing disappointment in the Omnibus and PRIIPs draft report in the Retail Investment Strategy file. ➡ BETTER FINANCE Position Paper on the Retail Investment Strategy ➡ BETTER
On 2 March 2023, BETTER FINANCE was one of the two organisations representing individual investors and financial users invited by the European Commission (together with 5 financial industry representatives) to address representatives of EU Member States at a “Government Expert Group on Retail Financial Services” meeting in Brussels on the Commission’s initiative of a “Retail
17 November 2022 – The struggle against conflicts of interests and to deliver an adequate, high level of “retail” investor protection now hinges on the positions of representatives of the EU Member States (Council of the EU). BETTER FINANCE firmly advises the co-legislator not to hamper EU progress and to support the proposal to ban
In 2021, the total income generated by securities lending operations globally stood at €7.8 billion, up by 21% compared to 2020. The majority of operations and lenders are outside the EU, and around 88% of securities on loan were sovereign bonds and equities. In the EU, lenders cannot derive any profit from securities lending. All
BETTER FINANCE thanks the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for its “peer review” report on the Wirecard scandal. It is quite revealing of the many failures and conflicts of interests that can plague even the most resourced national financial supervisors. It is unfortunate however that ESMA did not look into the handling by the
In an ideal world there would be no “inducements”, and product providers would definitely not be paying commissions – whether directly or indirectly- to so-called “advisors”. But we are not in an ideal world, we are in the real world. In the real Continental European world, ESMA’s proposal 10i for MiFID II implementation1 looks like a further boost to
BETTER FINANCE published its comments to EIOPA’s Discussion Paper on Conflicts of Interest in direct and intermediated sales of insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs).
The Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) compromise currently on the table for a European Parliament vote blatantly disregards the interests of retail investors and the establishment of a competitive Capital Markets Union (CMU). Should Ms Yon-Courtin’s proposed compromise be approved by the ECON committee on 20th March and subsequently put to a plenary vote one month
BETTER FINANCE, alongside other NGOs, urges members of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee to ensure that the new ESG Regulation improves the reliability, comparability and transparency of ESG Ratings in the EU and in particular to: 1. mandate ESG ratings to follow a double materiality approach, therefore taking into consideration companies’ exposure to ESG
BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users, has published a position paper on the European Commission’s Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) proposals. The organisation fully supports the EC’s RIS objectives: consistent rules, enhanced retail investor protection, unbiased advice, competitive financial markets, and transparent and comparable product information. The RIS constitutes a once-in-a-lifetime