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 and a bigger number of customers that can be reached. The potential risks could include the inability of consumers to talk to a human advisor who can guide them through the process and provide clarifications, as well as the increased vulnerability of various types of IT failures.
Interested stakeholders are invited to comment on the Discussion Paper. The deadline for the submission of comments is March 4, 2016.