Individual, non-professional investors have an increased appetite for investing in capital markets following the global health pandemic. Evidence in several jurisdictions shows that many new, young, and tech-savvy savers started to invest without professional assistance through what is called execution-only services under EU law . The European Supervisory Authorities (ESMA, EIOPA, EBA) have a legal
Available data and evidence show significant increases in the trading and investing activity of EU households, sparked by a new wave of young, previously inactive, non-professional investors. Many EU retail investors increased their exposure to listed equities and started to invest via execution-only services (brokerage accounts). Besides flattening the illiquidity curve during the period of
Retail trading must be simple, transparent, cost-efficient, and done in the best possible conditions for individual, non-professional (“retail”) investors. To achieve this, BETTER FINANCE puts forward a series of recommendations in relation to best execution of retail orders and payments for order flows (PFOF or, more adequately PFROF: Payment for retail order flow). Payments for
21 April 2022 | Financial repression poses a major problem for the protection of savers: policymakers must act and stop using savers’ cognitive biases to their detriment. Facts | On average, over the last 30 years, annual increases in consumer prices (“inflation”) have averaged +2% for the euro area[i], a historically very low level. Nonetheless,
ESMA Consultation Paper Guidelines on certain aspects of the MiFID II suitability requirements. BETTER FINANCE highlights that the new concepts introduced by the recent regulatory amendments may be difficult to understand by individual, non-professional investors, creating the risk for them to avoid making a decision or making a wrong decision. In this sense, we suggest
Last week, the fund industry warned that “the EU is putting the interests of exchanges over investors”. A letter from EFAMA to the EU Authorities regarding the reform of EU rules on capital markets (“MIFIR Review” in EU jargon) opposes the compensation of securities exchanges for communicating their trade data to “dark” competitors and labels
Dutch foundation to enable assertion of claims against EY Deutschland and EY Global – at no cost and risk-free. Amsterdam | Düsseldorf | Frankfurt, 06 April 2022 – Wirecard AG’s bankruptcy is likely one of the biggest economic scandals in German history. Within no time it became clear that the high-tech hopes for online payments
The European Commission proposes to replace the current suitability-appropriateness duality in the MiFID II and insurance distribution Directives, with a new, unique, and standardised suitability regime for all categories of retail investment products, including “IBIPs” (insurance-based investment products). BETTER FINANCE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to harmonise and improve the consumer journey towards
Although SPACs – Special Purpose Acquisition Companies – have existed for quite some time, their sudden popularity over the last few years has drawn the attention of investors and regulators alike. In their latest joint report, BETTER FINANCE and CFA Institute shed light on the debate around SPACs also known as “blank cheques companies”. Based
The objective of this project is to understand the perceived experience of market participants with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), including investment professionals as well as the recipients of financial services and products (i.e., retail investors). The study presents professional and retail investors’ views on the main issues that pertain to SPAC vehicles: transparency and