News

5 February 2016 - ESMA, the EU-wide financial markets watchdog, published a public statement this week following its research into closet indexing. Closet indexing, also known as index hugging, refers to the practice of fund managers claiming to manage portfolios actively when in reality the fund stays close to a benchmark. ESMA concluded, based on its research into a sample of 2,600 funds over 20...
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15 January 2016 - Tracey McDermott, the interim Head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain's financial watchdog, said she "wouldn't rule out" the return of commission payments in the UK.  In a radio interview last Saturday (9 January 2016), McDermott said that in order to improve the way financial advice and guidance is delivered, some element of commission might be re-introduced. Co...
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18 December 2015 - The European Investors’ Association (“European Investors”) aims to be the voice of all retail investors in Europe. European Investors will engage in EU policy-making processes and defend the rights of retail investors in court proceedings. Its primary goal is to strengthen the representation of retail investors and their interests in Europe. European Investors was set up in July...
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10 December 2015 - Today the European Commission published its Green Paper on Retail Financial Services and Insurance. In this Green Paper, the European Commission seek views on how to increase choice, competition and the cross-border supply of retail financial products, as well as the impact of digitalisation on retail financial services. The deadline for responding to this consultation is 18 Mar...
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4 December 2015 - The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) – EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – has launched a Discussion Paper on automation in financial advice, aimed at assessing what, if any, action is required to harness the potential benefits of this innovation and mitigate its risks. The benefits identified by the ESAs include: lower costs, higher consistency of advice an...
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30 November 2015 - The European Commission has today proposed an overhaul of the prospectus rules to improve access to finance for companies and simplify information for investors. A short overview of the most important changes proposed by the European Commission: Scope: There will be a higher threshold (in terms of the offer's total consideration) to determine when companies must issue a prosp...
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11 November 2015 - The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) – EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – has today launched its Joint Consultation Paper on the Key Information Document (KID) for PRIIPs.  PRIIP stands for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Product. Examples of PRIIPs are investment funds, life-insurance products and structured products. As of January 2017, the manu...
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10 November 2015 - MiFID II is due to come into force on January 3, 2017. However, the European Commission told MEPs this week that a delay is needed "if we want to have a smooth and effective implementation".  MiFIDII contains the updated rules for markets in financial instruments. Some of the provisions in this legislative package require complex IT systems to be built by regulators and industry...
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30 September 2015 - The European Commission (EC) has today launched the Capital Markets Union (CMU) Action Plan. It sets out 20 key measures to achieve a true single market for capital in Europe. Three of these are of particular importance for retail investors: In November 2015, the EC will publish a legislative proposal to modernise the Prospectus Directive. This Directive sets out the informa...
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