BETTER FINANCE welcomes the proposal for the Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) put forward by the European Commission (EC) on 24 May 2023. We fully share the goals that the EC pursues with this initiative ‘rules that are coherent across legal instruments’; ‘adequate protection’‘bias-free advice and fair treatment’; ‘open markets with a variety of competitive and
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,
BETTER FINANCE welcomes the objectives of the Listing Act review put forward by the European commission to make EU Capital Markets more attractive for companies, particularly for SMEs.[1] Investor associations have long emphasised that to revitalise the Capital Markets Union, the EU’s primary and secondary markets need a boost, that is, greater participation from EU
The Briefing Paper by BETTER FINANCE, 2° Investing Initiative and WWF focuses on the Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance-Based Products (PRIIPs) Regulation and provides recommendations for sustainability disclosure. While a legislative review of PRIIPs is planned, we suggest an omnibus regulation that will effectively harmonise product-level disclosures. The briefing elaborates on one of the recommendations
EU Law rightly requires information provided to individual investors to be clear, i.e., “presented in a way that is likely to be understood by, the average member of the group to whom it is directed, or by whom it is likely to be received”, and as such, retail investors expect definitions and classifications of funds
“BETTER FINANCE together with ShareAction, the German Association of the Insured BdV, Urgewald and WWF European Policy Office react to the Solvency II review on related sustainability requirements. Solvency II, the legislative framework for EU insurers, is currently under review. Solvency II, introduced in 2016, laid the foundations for a harmonised, sound, and robust prudential
The European Federation of investors and Financial Services Users fully supports the clear stated objectives of the European Union’s very welcome “Retail Investor Strategy”. Before the European Commission’s proposal is put forth, BETTER FINANCE reminds of the key necessities for a Capital Markets Union that shall “work for the people”. ENSURE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
BETTER FINANCE published a letter accompanying its response to the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) on its draft EU Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). In light of the proposals put forward by EFRAG, BETTER FINANCE would like to draw attention to the overarching themes that will ensure investors receive understandable, comparable, and reliable information which
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