In April 2015, Spanish MEP Soledad Cabezón took the issue of mortgage legislation and risky financial instruments in the EU, and focusing on Spain in particular, to the European Parliament Petitions Committee. Since the protection of consumer rights is a fundamental operating principle of the European Union, the matter is obviously raising eyebrows. Both the European Court of Justice and the Supreme Court in Spain already
On September 9, 10 & 11, Eurofi held its annual Financial Forum in Luxembourg, in association with the forthcoming Luxembourg EU Council Presidency. The event focused on the integration challenges that the EU and the Eurozone face, bringing together industry representatives, regulators and political decision makers. Guillaume Prache, Managing Director of BETTER FINANCE, participated in the event as a speaker
A review of the UK Treasury and Financial Conduct Authority to be launched this autumn shows that cheaper financial advice could be offered to everyone, not only rich people and pensioners. The regulator believes that banks and investment firms could open up access to advice across the market in savings, investments, mortgages and other areas
On Wednesday (July 9), the European Parliament made a decision on the highly debated investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism which is part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the giant trade deal between the EU and USA still being negotiated. Yesterday members of the European Parliament voted with 436 votes against 241 in favour of adopting a common position on TTIP.
On Wednesday 20 May, four large global banks — Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland — pleaded guilty to a series of federal crimes over a scheme to manipulate the value of the world’s currencies. The Justice Department of US government accused the banks of collusion in one of the largest
A pan-European pension markets product would help spur more cross-border economic activity and instill confidence in the single market amongst consumers, said Gabriel Bernardino, chairman of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) to EurActiv. In his view, the internal market for insurance is still insufficiently integrated, whereas a true single market – including
In the 1980s, some life-insurance companies, such as Abeille Vie – now part of Aviva France – issued life assurance products with an unusual feature: the ability to trade funds based on last week’s prices, a so called Fixed Price Abitrage Life Insurance. Under the terms of these insurance contracts, clients could effectively invest with hindsight since funds were available for a fixed price for a
Earlier this week, President Obama announced a new initiative to end conflicts of interests and minimize hidden fees in connection with retirement savings. This is the White House response to the US retirement crisis with too few people saving for retirement and too many saving not enough. Currently, US citizens have hard time navigating through
“Item 10: Policy debate on capital markets union” was one of the points on the agenda of yesterday’s (January 28) meeting of the Commissioners. This policy debate constitutes the very first orientation debate of the college on the Capital Markets Union. The aim of this initiative announced in mid-July 2014 is to remove barriers to
Earlier this autumn, the Financial Services User Group (FSUG), of which Guillaume Prache is the Vice-Chairman, has issued a position paper on asset management in the European Union. The position paper summarizes the outcomes of a study on investment fund performance and lists the characteristics of a successful, effective market (accessibility, safety, efficiency etc.). Against