Many financial services providers already operate across borders in different Member States. Like for other sectors, the case for EU-wide collective redress for financial services is clear and in the interest of EU citizens as retail investors and pension savers. Over the years there have been numerous mis-selling scandals in the financial services industry that
As pointed out at several occasions by BETTER FINANCE , EU citizens as savers are by nature mostly long-term driven, evidenced by the fact that 67% of their total assets are deployed in long-term investments (versus only 37% for pension funds – despite their purely long-term horizon – and 10% or less for insurers), and
As a general remark, BETTER FINANCE sees values in ESAs being empowered with the collection of data from market players. However, under the present framework, ESAs do not have the proper tools to easily and efficiently collect the data necessary to fulfil their role. In its answer to the Public Consultation on the operations of
Private investors suffer from a plethora of funds in Europe compared to the US, the induced very small average size of EU domiciled funds is a key driver for fees more than twice higher on average in Europe (in the example of equity funds), not mentioning the added complexity and difficulty to choose a fund
As a representative of individual investors and savers, we believe that the main concern is to provide investors with clear and concise information in order to give them a true picture of the company’s financial health and prospects. As such, the RTS must represent a way to improve investors protection. They should ensure that the
As a general comment, BETTER FINANCE believes that the current legislative framework regarding the reporting on ESG should be reviewed to introduce more standardisation in the disclosure process. Under the current legislative framework, public reporting of companies on ESG and particularly on social and governmental issues does not reflect the right picture as regard sustainability
As a representative of individual savers and investors in Europe, we believe that further ESG information in the Prospectus, Summary Prospectus, in the KIID (investment funds), in the KID and in the PBS (occupational pensions) would be a useful source of information for investors since EU savers are by nature mostly long-term driven and therefore
Good news at last for some investors caught in “closet index” funds: fund managers will indemnify investors from 64 UK domiciled funds for £ 32 million following the UK financial supervisor’s investigation. Closet index funds are funds that claim to be actively managed, and charge “active” management fees, but closely track the market indices (before
BETTER FINANCE regrets this postponing of the date of application. In our view, the industry had plenty of time since February 2016 to prepare for this new legislative framework which provides for rather low-level/basic minimum standards for the insurance distribution.
BETTER FINANCE provided answers to a questionnaire in order to help EIOPA collect informal input for its Consumer Trends Report and inform EIOPA in the identification, prioritisation and development of targeted policy proposals; EIOPA seeks to identify possible consumer protection issues arising from identified trends.