Trade associations representing the UK financial services industry have jointly written to EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy in support of the European Commission’s (EC) recent Retail Financial Services Green Paper. The industry’s letter highlights that EU retail financial services markets are diverse, and that companies need to tailor their services accordingly.
The letter claims that new regulations aimed specifically at fostering the cross-border sale of individual products can sometimes have unintended and costly consequences for customers. Market-led initiatives are preferred by the industry.
The industry is encouraging the commission to continue to focus on consolidating and improving the application of existing legislation in the retail markets, rather than on new legislation, except where there is a very clear cost-benefit case.
