Position paper: Strengthening conduct supervision in cross-border retail financial services to create a more efficient EU capital market
Wednesday 05 January 2022 AMF Visit source websiteExecutive Summary
Digitalization of financial services and engagement with such services has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. European harmonization of rules has further enhanced the ability of European consumers to engage with financial products and services beyond national borders. Thus, providing more investment options for European consumers.
To ensure further consumer engagement on European capital markets, it is important that consumers feel sufficiently protected. Effective consumer protection is vital for the success of the Capital Markets Union (CMU).
Supervision of financial services provision is currently performed exclusively by national competent authorities (NCAs). The division of responsibilities between home and host NCAs, the abilities of host NCAs, and the current level of information sharing between relevant NCAs can and should be improved to ensure higher and more harmonized consumer protection.
This paper focuses on improvements with respect to the cross-border provision of retail investment products and services with a corresponding focus on MiFID 2. The AMF and AFM view the area of retail investment as warranting priority. Nevertheless, the issues outlined in this paper are relevant beyond investment products and services. As such, some suggested solutions would be relevant to consider with respect to other product/services groups for which there is a cross-border market within Europe. The insurance market and payment market would be the most established examples of these.