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
The resources are aimed to inform on consumer credits, loans and other financial services legislations.
“BETTER FINANCE together with ShareAction, the German Association of the Insured BdV, Urgewald and WWF European Policy Office react to the Solvency II review on related sustainability requirements. Solvency II, the legislative framework for EU insurers, is currently under review. Solvency II, introduced in 2016, laid the foundations for a harmonised, sound, and robust prudential
The European Federation of investors and Financial Services Users fully supports the clear stated objectives of the European Union’s very welcome “Retail Investor Strategy”. ENSURE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IN SECTORAL LEGISLATION The European Commission’s stated goal for the EU Strategy for Retail Investors (RIS) is to: ”ensure that (…) rules are coherent across legal
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
INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS (for non-professional readers) European Union (EU) authorities aim to improve the conditions of saving and investing in capital markets for EU households through several regulatory and supervisory actions. Currently, most of these initiatives stem from the recommendations of the High-Level Forum on the Future of the Capital Markets Union,[1] on which the European
BETTER FINANCE screened available evidence (literature, surveys, experiments, and statistical data) comparing the impact of allowing the receipt of “inducements” by distributors or brokers of “retail” investment services and products, versus banning it. Two jurisdictions in Europe already banned the receipt of commissions for the distribution of retail investment products: the United Kingdom, since 2012,
BETTER FINANCE presents its Evidence Paper on Banning Inducements in retail investment services. BETTER FINANCE screened available evidence (literature, surveys, experiments, and data) on the effects of allowing vs banning the receipt of inducements by distributors of retail investment services and products. Inducements designate remunerations, such as commissions or kickbacks, paid by third-party financial firms to
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
With the termination of the intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in 2020 – which received significant criticism for overlapping with the EU single market rules – the EC launched an initiative to improve the investor protection and facilitation framework at EU level. This initiative was reiterated in the new Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan