BETTER FINANCE, the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users, welcomed the European Commission’s launch of a Retail Investor Strategy in September 2020, as a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a capital markets Union that works for people. Nevertheless, the legislative proposal, despite incorporating certain positive advancements, falls short of fulfilling several
BETTER FINANCE released its updated report on the progress of the European Capital Markets Union (CMU), and the results are discouraging. The report analyses the first five key performance indicators (KPIs) used to assess the progress of the CMU, and adds two additional KPIs to reflect developments in EU capital markets. The report is based
Many investors commonly use the strategy of investing in dividend stocks. Yet, investors holding foreign shares often have to pay additional withholding tax on dividends in the respective country. A recent survey conducted by BETTER FINANCE and DSW[1] among 3,000 investors across the EU found that withholding tax (WHT) refund procedures are cumbersome and costly,
A recent survey conducted by BETTER FINANCE and DSW among 3000 investors across the EU found that withholding tax (WHT) refund procedures are cumbersome and costly, making it difficult or financially unreasonable for non-professional investors to reclaim excess withholding tax on cross-border dividend income. More than 90% of European investors find the WHT reclaim procedure
BETTER FINANCE calls for restricting “dark” capital market venues to REAL Large-in-scale (LIS) trades, i.e., of more than €100k each, to really prevent them from dealing with “retail” orders. Current Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) proposals “surreal” and don’t respond to citizens’ questions. A real-time pre-trade Consolidated Tape (CT) of equity order books will put
BETTER FINANCE welcomes the amendments to the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act (Art 8) in providing consistent methodologies and economic performance indicators that ensure financial and non-financial undertakings disclose the relevant taxonomy eligibility and alignment information. In order to strengthen market transparency and encourage companies to green their activities and portfolios, it is crucial to have
On Thursday 13 April Ferrovial, the Spanish construction group, announced that its shareholders have approved a plan to relocate its holding company to the Netherlands through a reverse merger with its Dutch subsidiary Ferrovial International SE (FISE). The decision was made during Ferrovial’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). This strategic move aims to facilitate future listings
BETTER FINANCE continued its research series into Robo-advice with this seventh annual edition (2022), mapping a sample of platforms that provide online Robo-advisory investing services, by analysing their (automated) advice process in terms of transparency, costs, portfolio composition, suitability and sustainability options and preferences for the client. This edition’s analysis focuses on Robo-advisors’ ability to
BETTER FINANCE response to the European Commission’s request for feedback on the review of the Listing Act – making public capital markets more attractive for EU companies and facilitating access to capital for SMEs. BETTER FINANCE welcomes the stated objectives of the listing act review for prospectus standardisation and streamlined IPO cost reduction, particularly for
On 2 March 2023, BETTER FINANCE was one of the two organisations representing individual investors and financial users invited by the European Commission (together with 5 financial industry representatives) to address representatives of EU Member States at a “Government Expert Group on Retail Financial Services” meeting in Brussels on the Commission’s initiative of a “Retail