On 14 September 2011, BETTER FINANCE (then “EuroInvestors”) and BEUC (the European Consumer Organization) filed complaints with the European Ombudsman against the nominations of the members of the Stakeholder Groups set up by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). In December 2013 the European Ombudsman, after careful analysis of
On April 1st, a group of major institutional investors, including the Head of Corporate Governance Group at BETTER FINANCE’s member organization UKSA (the UK Shareholders’ Association) Roger Collinge, sent a letter to the Financial Times editor welcoming “the rivals to the Big Four”. Following Interserve’s replacement of its long-standing auditor Deloitte with Grant Thornton, the letter stresses that thisdecision is a “sign of increasing competition
On February 26, the European Parliament called for full disclosure of fees and costs of insurance products by voting the amendments to a draft update of EU rules on the information and advice offered by the insurance sector. MEPs agreed on the amendments to the insurance mediation directive to strengthen the rights of consumers when
In an interview with Investment & Pensions Europe magazine, Michael Schmidt, managing director at Union Investment, said that regulatory myopia is driving German institutionals out of equities. According to him, a growing number of German institutional investors had reduced their equity exposure in recent years and were instead increasing exposure to real assets such as infrastructure and real estate. Schmidt
On 1 January 2014, Latvia became the 18th member of the Eurozone and the second Baltic state to adopt the currency following Estonia in 2011. The Latvian adoption of the euro happened under widespread public fear over possible price rises and the future of the single currency. Latvians’ reluctance can be seen in light of
EuroFinUse’s Managing Director, Guillaume Prache, was a speaker at a hearing held by the European Economic and Social Committee’s Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) on “Completing EMU – arguments and proposals for the next term of office of the European Parliament and the European Commission” last fifth of
On Monday 21 October, the European Banking Authority (EBA) announced the renewal of its Banking Stakeholder Group (BSG). According to the EBA, this group has the role of facilitating consultation and dialogue with stakeholders in all the areas relevant to the tasks of the EBA. EBA is an independent European Union Authority which works to
On September 24, Klaus Regling, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism, recognized the current legal setup of this mechanism would not allow it to become a “backstop” lender for the EU Single Resolution Fund, which will be set up in 2014 and will directly recapitalize struggling banks. However, answering Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
The European Parliament has finally passed on plenary vote the newest update of the framework for the EU-authorised investment funds, UCITS V. Progress on this decisive file for retail investors is welcomed, as UCITS funds are one of the most popular retail investment products at EU level. However, the European Parliament unfortunately missed the opportunity
Six years after the EU MiFID Directive fragmented the European equity markets, private investors still cannot get consolidated pre- and post-trade data. The solution preferred by the Commission and by the European Parliament seems to be going nowhere. EuroFinUse is very concerned that the EU has and is still losing a lot of time and