MEPs on European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) approved, on Wednesday 20 March, the draft report by Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew Europe, French) on the review of retail investor protection rules, with 32 votes in favour, 21 against and one abstention.
For several months now, however, the political groups have been divided on the issue of retrocessions (see EUROPE 13353/10), commissions in the form of outpayments that an intermediary may receive from a credit institution in connection with the financing of a project.
Perceived as an essential financial advisory activity for certain political groups, these retrocessions are inevitably a source of conflicts of interest for others.
While the European Commission had proposed a partial ban and the political groups on the left of the Chamber supported increased bans, Ms Yon-Courtin has always opposed any ban at all.
“In tough negotiations, we were ultimately able to prevent a ban on inducements. Bans are not a solution in a free market (...) Instead, we have strengthened investor protection with an ambitious value-for-money approach”, said a delighted Ralf Seekatz (EPP, German) on the sidelines of the vote.
“In the end, Stéphanie Yon-Courtin chose to form a majority with the right and extreme right, representing the interests of the financial industry to the detriment of the general interest. Even the European Commission, which is not necessarily the most progressive, has been sceptical about the approach taken”, said shadow rapporteur Claude Gruffat (Greens/EFA, French).
At the Council of the EU on Thursday 14 March, the Belgian Presidency had proposed restricting the partial ban on retrocessions to the sale of complex financial products without advice (see EUROPE 13371/31). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)