Legal Committee The Legal Committee (LC) assists the organisation in all legal matters related to current policy issues and activities we carry out. The LC is composed of four members and is headed by a Chairman and a Secretary General. All members of the LC are Attorneys at Law. Work Programme Committee The Work Programme
At FEE’s Roundtable on "How to improve the functioning of audit committees further" , which took place on 5 February, around a 100 participants including European policymakers, audit committee members, investors, professional accountants and auditors and regulators discussed further improvements of the functioning of audit committees to help identify and shape good practices. EuroFinuse President, Jella
On Tuesday, 19 September from 15:00 to 16:30 in the European Parliament in Brussels, a public hearing on the “New EU common system for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax abuse in the area of withholding taxes” will take place. The hearing aims to address the burdensome withholding tax refund procedures for
BETTER FINANCE is pleased to announce that, also in 2021, it is well-positioned to remain the leader in providing high-level user-side experts to EU and International expert advisory groups in policy and regulatory matters impacting individual, non-professional users of financial services. At the European level, BETTER FINANCE is pleased to announce that Desislav Danov from
BETTER FINANCE is happy to announce that The European Banking Authority’s Banking Stakeholder Group (BSG) selected one of its previous vice-chairs, Alin Iacob, to join the BSG again. Alin Iacob is the Chairman of the Association of Romanian Financial Services Users (AURSF). AURSF has been a member of BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors
Collective Redress Directive – a directive for initiating court actions against companies who infringe consumers rights
The BETTER FINANCE Scientific Council consists of highly skilled and experienced independent academics who help us deliver high quality research for financial services users, other stakeholders and policy-makers. The Scientific Council consists of the following members (alphabetic order): Prof. Niamh Moloney (Ireland) Prof. Dr. Jan Sebo (Slovakia) Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Veil (Germany) Mr. Nicolas Véron
BETTER FINANCE is pleased to announce that two of its members have been selected for the renewal of the Investment Management Standing Committee Consultative Working Group (CWG). Jean Medernach – President of Investas in Luxemburg and Jean Berthon (President of GAIPARE and Vice-President of BETTER FINANCE) have been selected for a renewable term of two
European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users in short « BETTER FINANCE » ASBL Rue d`Arenberg 44 1000 Brussels Name, legal status, term and legal domicile Art. 1 The name of the not for profit Association is “European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users”, in short “Better Finance” (the Association). Art. 2 The
President Jella Benner-Heinacher Jella Benner-Heinacher is the chief managing director (deputy) of Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz (DSW), the leading shareholder association in Germany. Ms Benner-Heinacher, a German attorney, having studied in France, Switzerland and the U.S., is primarily responsible for international activities as Vice-President of BETTER FINANCE in Brussels. Ms Benner-Heinacher is also chairwoman of the
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Last week, ShareAction, a UK registered charity promoting an investment system which serves savers, society and the environment, released a survey on Responsible Investment Performance of European Asset Managers. For this study, ShareAction has examined and ranked the transparency and Responsible investment practices of 40 of the largest asset managers in Europe which control €21
Following the filling of three lawsuits by VZMD, the Slovenian Constitutional Court acknowledged the legal interest of the 293 initiators united by VZMD who were all owners of subordinated bonds of three Slovenian banks who were expropriated on December 18. VZMD demanded a constitutional review of the Banking Act and the Court accepted the hearing
On the 19th of January 2016 a documentary focusing on savings and life insurance in France was broadcast on France 5. Amongst others, Guillaume Prache, Managing Director at BETTER FINANCE, was interviewed on the topic and brought up the story of the day he looked into the account statements from his mother who contributes to
EuroFinUse was quoted in the Accountancy Age with regards to the EU Audit regulation. It’s a case of going back to basics. Should the ultimate oversight body for auditing in the EU be the European Group of Auditors’ Oversight Bodies (EGAOB), as set up under the 8th Company Law directive, which has roots going back
EuroFinUse was quoted in the Accountancy Age with regards to the EU Audit regulation. It’s a case of going back to basics. Should the ultimate oversight body for auditing in the EU be the European Group of Auditors’ Oversight Bodies (EGAOB), as set up under the 8th Company Law directive, which has roots going back
Research by BETTER FINANCE, published in 2015 in BETTER FINANCE’s briefing paper on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative, debunked the myth that individual investors are short-term oriented. Now a survey carried out by S&P Dow Jones Indices (SPDJI), one of the world’s largest index providers has provided another angle to the debate, indicating that
Guillaume Prache, 11 November 2012 What is by far the biggest financial market in the world and also one of the most opaque, least regulated, least taxed, and extremely expensive for end users? You guessed it, the Currency Market. By far the biggest One quadrillion dollars (one followed by 15 zeros) in transactions per year:
BETTER FINANCE welcomes and supports EIOPA’s ongoing work on a supervisory toolkit to assess the value for money offered by unit linked and hybrid insurance products. Since its creation, BETTER FINANCE has been fighting for regulatory and supervisory action to improve the returns of long-term and pension saving products. As BETTER FINANCE research shows, high
Brussels, 14 December 2023 – On December 11th, the BETTER FINANCE Scientific Council convened to discuss next year’s research program and to elect a new chairperson. The Council recommended that BETTER FINANCE continues to build on the extensive research conducted by the team and expressed support for the 2024 research program, including further research on
After the 2023 AGM season and looking ahead to the 2024 season, BETTER FINANCE and its member organisations voice concerns about the erosion of shareholder rights. Inadequate rules for Virtual Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in some Member States highlight the need for broader engagement and representation frameworks for investors to truly benefit from digitalisation. The
BETTER FINANCE’s full Response to the Targeted Consultation on SRDs – Shareholder Rights Directives (SRD1 and SRD2) for the European Commission by the CSES — [15 December 2023]. BETTER FINANCE advocates for the enforcement of investors’ and shareholders’ rights, underscoring the pivotal role of engagement as a cornerstone within robust green transition plans and corporate
We are pleased to share that Jesse Collin, from BETTER FINANCE member organization Finnish Share Promotion Foundation, has been selected as a member of ESMA’s Consultative Working Group in the Risk Standing Committee – Investor Trends and Research Working Group. The working group will focus on consumers, ESG and innovation related topics. For a full
The draft Regulation on ESG ratings proposed by the European Commission in June 2023 aims to establish a framework and tackle structural issues by combating possible conflicts of interests, imposing better transparency in the rating processes, and introducing an authorisation and supervision system for ESG rating providers (for both EU and non-EU entities). Although commendable,