The level of qualifications of financial advisors continues to vary a great deal from one Member State to another despite certain requirements introduced at the EU level, according to the European Commission’s report on improving the quality of financial advisors that was published on Thursday, 7 July.
Nevertheless, the report does not recommend creating a pan-EU label for this profession. In fact, it is not guaranteed to be adopted, and the administrative costs related to setting it up and running it are likely to be high. The report proposes that future European retail investment strategy examine other possibilities for strengthening EU rules for advisors.
The European Commission also published a second report on directing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to alternative funding providers.
The assessment concludes that a potential referral scheme—based on the European Single Access Point (ESAP) legislative proposal currently under negotiation in the EU legislature (see EUROPE 12984/4)—would be the most promising approach. The European Commission will await the outcome of the ESAP negotiations before considering its next steps. The other approach envisaged—which involves banks providing SMEs with a standardised information sheet—would not put these SMEs in direct contact with alternative finance providers.
These reports are an integral part of the European Commission’s 2020 CMU Action Plan to deepen the capital markets union. They are based on external consultations with stakeholders.
Report on improving the quality of financial advisors: https://aeur.eu/f/2j6
Report on directing SMEs to alternative funding providers: https://aeur.eu/f/2j7 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)