EFAMA appreciates the opportunity to share our views on the European Commission’s consultation on enhancements to the suitability and appropriateness assessments forming part of the wider, upcoming Retail Investment Strategy.
EFAMA monitors issues surrounding fund distribution and disclosures to investors. These include investor protection and disclosure issues arising from the evolving PRIIPs and MiFID frameworks, the shift towards digital distribution tools, and the continued integration of ESG considerations into fund products.
EFAMA appreciates the opportunity to share our views on the European Commission’s consultation on enhancements to the suitability and appropriateness assessments forming part of the wider, upcoming Retail Investment Strategy.
EFAMA continues to support the overarching aim of the PRIIP KID as a single pre-disclosure document for all types of investment products.
EFAMA believes that the ESAs Joint Call for Evidence on PRIIPs and any subsequent proposals for revision of the PRIIPs Regulation should come after assessing in practice the revised PRIIPs RTS to be implemented from 31 December 2022, both to retail AIFs and UCITS.
We welcome yesterday's vote by the European Parliament plenary formally adopting two ‘quick fixes’ for PRIIPs (Packaged retail investments and insurance-based products) and UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities).
Latest EFAMA research shows banks hold a 57% market share in EU fund distribution
Today, the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) published the latest edition of its Market Insights series, titled “Investment fund distribution channels in Europe”.
In July the European Commission released their long-awaited Retail Investment Strategy, including multiple proposals aimed at boosting retail participation in capital markets. EFAMA has provided comments on this in their ‘Have your say’ forum, where we briefly highlight some of our main concerns.
EFAMA, together with EBF, Insurance Europe, EACB, EAPB, ESBG and EUSIPA, issued a public letter addressed to Vice-President Dombrovskis, Commissioners McGuinness and Director-General Berrigan, remarking the importance of advice for European retail investors and the need to maintain the coexistence of fee-based and commission-based advice.
Funds face unique challenges in performing intermediary oversight, and especially so because of MiFID II requirements, changing regulatory landscapes, and the absence of an industry agreed-upon standard between funds and their distribution channels. To help address these challenges, a dedicated working group developed a uniform due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) that will serve as the standard for investment funds (UCITS and AIFs) in performing onboarding and ongoing oversight of distribution channels.