Finance sector calls for co-legislators to reassess the Retail Investment Strategy in light of the European Commission’s competitiveness goals.

Representatives of the European financial and insurance sector (AMICE, BIPAR, the Conference of EU Bancassureurs (CEB), EACB, EAPB, EBF, EFAMA, EFSA, ESBG, EUSIPA, and Insurance Europe) today issued a Joint Industry Statement on the European Commission‘s Retail Investment Strategy (RIS).

The signatories welcome the new European Commission’s objectives to boost the EU’s competitiveness, focus on the enforcement of existing legislation and simplify regulatory frameworks. The co-signatories appreciate that this was also echoed by the Commissioner-Designate Maria Luis Albuquerque during her confirmation hearing in the European
Parliament.

In light of this and the need to urgently advance a Savings and Investments Union, it is essential to subject the Retail Investment Strategy (RIS) to a “competitiveness check”. As it currently stands, the RIS will not achieve its initial goal of increasing retail participation in European capital markets. Indeed, the RIS adds further complexity and bureaucracy to the already heavily regulated frameworks that govern the distribution of investment and insurance-based investment products (IBIPs), with impacts for both firms and retail investors. This approach contradicts the new Commission’s commitments to reducing red tape for market participants, fostering a simpler regulatory environment and strengthening the attractiveness of EU financial markets.

The co-signatories have hope that EU policymakers can use the upcoming trilogue negotiations to refocus the RIS on what matters: enabling citizens to invest in the capital market without imposing excessive burdens on market participants. For this to happen, policymakers must, at a bare minimum, focus on:

• Simplification for firms and retail investors
• Streamlined sales processes for retail investors
• Reduction of information overload

Read the full statement.