Last month, the representatives of the European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users (BETTER FINANCE), of which VZMD is an active member, met with Patricia Reilly, the Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union. Ms. Reilly reiterated the commitment of the Commissioner Mairéad McGuinness to the key priorities of the EU Retail Investment Strategy, mainly to coherent protection of various legal instruments, building on the competitiveness and cost efficiency of products, as well as bias-free advice.
The meeting was a follow-up to the letter that BETTER FINANCE had, back in November and together with the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and the NGO Finance Watch, sent to Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commissioner for the Economy that Works for People, Didier Reynders, the Commissioner for Justice, and Commissioner McGuinness. The purpose of the letter was to support and give further impetus to the EU Retail Investment Strategy, particularly in view of providing bias-free advice of financial service providers in their relation with the customers.
In November and prior to the letter, the Expert Advisory Group of the Financial Services User Group (FSUG) at the European Commission formed their own proposals and recommendations regarding the EU Retail Investment Strategy and the new set of measures of the EUROPEAN COMMISSION to increase the consumers' involvement in the capital markets. The advisory group of 20 members also includes the VZMD President, Mr. Kristjan Verbič who, at the FSUG meetings in September and November in Brussels, put forward the challenges and lessons learned by the Slovenian consumers and financial services users. With the support of BETTER FINANCE, the FSUG's proposals also included important amendments drawn up and addressed by VZMD experts regarding several poor practices.
The proposal of the EU Retail Investment Strategy published by the EUROPEAN COMMISSION was to improve the legal framework for retail investors and empower them, which is why last June BETTER FINANCE had published a report with the recommendations on how to attract and maintain the collaboration of the European households on the EU capital market. Following the substantial efforts of VZMD and BETTER FINANCE, the FSUG's advisory group, and the Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA), associating and collaborating with BEUC and Finance Watch, as well as numerous other activities within the Association, it is their hope that the situation for retail investors and financial service users will finally improve, including in Slovenia where, with the inflation rate of 10.3%, its citizens hold over EUR 25 billion worth of assets in the form of non-remunerated bank deposits.
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