Market: This draft European directive worries French finance

(BFM Bourse) – Medef, the banking association or even France Assureurs wrote a press release expressing their fear of this text which, by wanting to regulate the sale of financial products, risks having negative consequences for the commissions received.

Nearly 20 employers’ associations and organizations published a press release on Monday to express their “grave concern” over a draft directive proposed by the European Commission on the supervision of advice and sales of financial products.

If the signatories, including the French banking federation, France Assureurs or even Medef, say they share “the ambitions listed” and welcome “the provisions aimed at promoting financial education”, they are concerned about the effects on the commissions which the distributors receive.

For months, the Parisian financial center has been worried about a text that would ban them.

A distribution threatened?

In its draft proposed on May 24, the European Commission claims to rule out a general ban on remuneration for the entire distribution of products”, judge the authors of the text.

“As it stands, this would lead to a virtual elimination of the commission-based model, de facto depriving the most modest savers of access to advice (advice gap) and also depriving many savers of financial products made unavailable through intermediaries. financial” , they continue.

According to them, “the text also contains numerous extremely restrictive provisions in the management and process of selling savings products”, including “real price controls in a market that is now highly competitive”.

Brussels wants to better protect individual investors in the hope of encouraging investments in stocks or bonds and thus better developing European financial markets. To this end, the European Commission wants to improve the information for investors, which will be more standardized, and to create better transparency in costs by also imposing a standardized presentation and terminology.

To limit financial advisers’ conflicts of interest, the commissions that will be awarded to them to encourage them to sell certain products will be subject to “stricter safeguards and enhanced transparency obligations”.

This package still needs to be negotiated with the Member States and the European Parliament.

(With AFP)

JM – ©2023 BFM Bourse

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