Videos

President Christine Lagarde and Chief Economist Philip R. Lane hosted the first ECB Listens event on 21 October 2020. The virtual event brought together a range of European-level civil society organisations to hear their views on the impact of the ECB’s monetary policy and communication and on the global challenges ahead. Guillaume Prache, Managing Director of BETTER FINANCE, addressed the event, stating that the ECB should internalise externalities that are not priced by markets. BETTER FINANCE proposes to request beneficiaries (banks, EU national governments) of de facto subsidies from the ECB, to allocate a minimum of these to activities improving ESG issues and hold them accountable through KPIs.

President Christine Lagarde and Chief Economist Philip R. Lane hosted the first ECB Listens event on 21 October 2020. The virtual event brought together a range of European-level civil society organisations to hear their views on the impact of the ECB’s monetary policy and communication and on the global challenges ahead. Guillaume Prache, Managing Director of BETTER FINANCE, addressed the event, stating that "the way the ECB​ has been pursuing financial stability is driving Financial Repression, by favouring short-term financial support to financial institutions over protection of financial consumers". "Pension products are long-term by nature. The cumulative effect of inflation, even with modest average annual inflation of 2% over 40 years would decrease savings by 55%. BETTER FINANCE warns about the danger of “money illusion” for EU pension savers."

On 18 September 2020, BETTER FINANCE and the Bund der Versicherten (BdV) organised a conference on the Pan-European Perosnal Pension (PEPP) product. Stakeholders from Civil Society and the Financial Industry discussed the potential benefits and pitfalls of a Pan-European Personal Pension (PEPP) product, focussing on the Level 2 PEPP Regulation finalised by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) in August 2020, including: - guarantees / risk mitigation techniques - the cost cap for the Basic PEPP - cost disclosure and other information requirements in the KID/PBS To what extent can PEPP alleviate the Financial Repression of European Citizens as Savers and Investors?

BETTER FINANCE was very happy to participate to the Stakeholder dialogues with the European Commission on COVID19 relief measures for consumers & businesses to mitigate the impact of the crisis: #coronavirus. #MyMoneyEU. You can read the list of 'best practices' here: https://bit.ly/30f69Oa

Il y a 4 principaux types d’investissements : espèces, obligations, immobilier et actions. Dans cette vidéo, BETTER FINANCE & INVESTAS dévoilent tout ce qu’il y à savoir sur les investissements en actions. La vidéo, ainsi que l’explication ci-dessous vise à vous fournir les outils de base pour analyser les différents aspects des sociétés dans lesquelles vous souhaitez acheter des actions. "Investir en actions: que retenir?": https://betterfinance.eu/campaigns/pourquoi-investir-en-actions/

@EU_Finance answers question to #CMUlive from BETTER FINANCE: EU households increasingly pushed into complex, opaque & costly packaged investment products. What will you do to restore investor trust & improve direct access to equity? Watch the video answer here!

The Situation - With a global pension gap forecasted to mushroom to $400 trillion by 2050 and income replacement rates decreasing, EU citizens are increasingly asked to rely on personal pension products to complement the insufficient government-sponsored mandatory and occupational pension plans. Unfortunately, our research has shown that fees and commissions severely hurt returns for pension savers. Pension savings products too often significantly underperform capital markets, and even sometimes destroy the real (after inflation) value of pension savings over the long-term. The PEPP - For these reasons, BETTER FINANCE welcomes the final compromise reached between the three top level EU Authorities for the creation of a pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) that would go a long way towards alleviating this worrying situation. If properly implemented, the “basic PEPP” should protect the long-term real value of your nest egg, shielding your savings from fees and inflation, and ensure you don’t have a bad surprise when you reach retirement age. To this end a PEPP will offer so-called “capital guarantee”. As it stands, however, the basic PEPP is not “safe” and the capital invested by EU pension savers is anything but “guaranteed”. BETTER FINANCE has repeatedly stressed that for a “capital guarantee” to mean anything, “capital” must be equal to the amounts saved, i.e. before the deducting all accumulated fees and charges directly or indirectly borne by pension savers, and, if possible, in real terms (offsetting the devastating impact of inflation on the “real” value of pension savings – their purchasing power - over time). Without such a protection covering the real value of capital invested (without deducting fees over decades), the purchasing power of the “capital guarantee” upon retirement will amount to just a small fraction of their lifetime savings. The Scam – In this short 2-minute video taking the viewer through 40 years of the life of 2 EU citizens as pension savers, BETTER FINANCE explains how a Capital Guarantee scam is putting the savings of EU Citizens at risk! Watch it here and spread the message! The Petition - There is still time to make sure that EU lawmakers do not mislead EU citizens about the Capital “Guarantee” of their pension savings! After all, a simple, open and cost-effective Pan-European Personal Pension with a true capital guarantee could go a long way towards ensuring a bright future with adequate pensions. Having failed so far to convince EU policy makers about this critical issue, BETTER FINANCE now calls on citizens themselves to stand up against this scam and demand a real and clear guarantee of their pension savings. Sign the BETTER FINANCE petition on www.avaaz.org and forward this video to your national Minister of Finance and to your Member of the European Parliament. To find your MEP’s email address go to http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/home

An international Conference by BETTER FINANCE and AURSF, in partnership with Bucharest University of Economic studies, marking a 10 Year Anniversary of BETTER FINANCE.

An international Conference by BETTER FINANCE and AURSF, in partnership with Bucharest University of Economic studies, marking a 10 Year Anniversary of BETTER FINANCE.

Les prochaines élections européennes de mai 2019 conduiront à une reconfiguration du Parlement européen et de la Commission européenne. Ces élections se révèleront être d’une importance capitale pour les utilisateurs de services financiers européens, représentés par BETTER FINANCE. BETTER FINANCE a souligné les actions prioritaires qui contribueraient grandement à la protection des épargnants et des investisseurs, et profiteraient davantage à l'économie réelle. Au nom des citoyens européens, nous avons demandé à tous les responsables politiques et groupes politiques européens, par le biais d'un appel public, de répondre clairement à un bref questionnaire afin de montrer leurs positions sur les questions de régulation financière. BETTER FINANCE annoncera les résultats (ou l'absence de résultats) lors d'une conférence de presse le mercredi 15 mai 2019. Nous informerons les médias et tous les électeurs européens des positions de chaque parti politique européen en ce qui concerne les droits des épargnants et des utilisateurs de services financiers à long terme. Nos priorités pour les cinq prochaines années sont disponibles à l’adresse suivante: https://betterfinance.eu/publication/better-finance-key-priorities-for-the-next-five-years-%E2%94%82-2019-2024/ Pour remplir le questionnaire, veuillez cliquer sur le lien suivant: https://betterfinance.typeform.com/to/clpmBz

The upcoming European elections in May 2019 will lead to a reconfiguration of the European Parliament and the European Commission. These elections are of the utmost importance for European Financial Services Users (i.e. most EU citizens), represented by BETTER FINANCE. BETTER FINANCE outlined the priority actions that would go a long way towards addressing the protection of savers and investors and strongly benefit the real economy. In the name of European citizens, we asked all European politicians and political groups through a Public Call to clearly answer a short questionnaire to show their colours when it comes to financial policy. BETTER FINANCE will announce the results (or lack thereof) during a press conference on Wednesday 15 May 2019. We will inform the media and all European voters of what each EU Political Party stands for with respect to EU citizens’ financial rights as long-term savers and users of financial services. The Key Priorities for the Next Five Years can be found here: https://betterfinance.eu/publication/better-finance-key-priorities-for-the-next-five-years-%E2%94%82-2019-2024/ To fill out the survey, please go here: https://betterfinance.typeform.com/to/clpmBz

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, BETTER FINANCE remembers its humble beginnings and the long way it has come to become the voice of European citizens as savers and investors and the role it has played towards greater protection for financial services users. The role of BETTER FINANCE and the importance of representing financial users at the European level has not only been acknowledged by its members but also by members of the European Parliament, such as Pervenche Berès, Sven Giegold and Wolf Klinz.