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03 July 2012

EU investment fund and insurance rules (UCITS, IMD, PRIPs) - Commission tiptoes towards strengthened consumer protection


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Sven Giegold MEP, who will be the EP's rapporteur on the UCITS proposals, said that the Commission had missed an opportunity to strengthen consumer protection thoroughly and address many of the current shortcomings in EU rules on financial products, such as investment funds and insurance policies.


Giegold continued:

"As regards insurance mediation, the Commission has regrettably not sufficiently addressed the problem of deficient or misleading advice and marketing of insurance products - as well as negative incentives created by inducements - which have caused major problems for consumers. The Commission only proposed a ban on commission payments for independent insurance brokers and failed to address what is a sector-wide problem. As a result, insurance firms will continue to get away with marketing products that are in their interests but not necessarily in the interests of their consumers.

"As regards investment funds (UCITS), the Commission has failed to tackle the over-complex and opaque nature of some of these products. Some UCITS have become far too complicated for ordinary consumers. The variety of risk and complexity within the UCITS brand is undermining confidence in the whole concept and therefore needs to be addressed. We regret that the Commission failed to use this review to tackle this core problem even if its proposals have set out some improvements as regards the remuneration of fund managers and depository liability.

"With regards to retail investment products (PRIPs), the proposals would help to increase transparency but the European Parliament is already debating including more far-reaching proposals through the financial instruments directive (MiFID). Simple disclosure of the risks and potential of financial products is not sufficient; instead, financial products should be targeted towards specific groups of investors. Likewise, PRIPs should encompass information on the target group of a specific financial product, with any investment advice including an obligatory explanation on its suitability for consumers."

Press release



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