On 24 May 2023, the European Commission published "the most ambitious legislative proposal since the inception of EU financial regulation ", as the Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinnes described the proposal for a directive as regards the retail investor protection rules (Retail Investment Package).
The main goal of the proposal is to enhance the position of the consumer as a retail investor, so that the consumers can make better and confident decisions about their investments.
The new rules will be reflected, for example, in the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), the taking-up and pursuit of the business of Insurance and Reinsurance Directive (Solvency II), the Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directive (UCITS), the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).
One of the most interesting aspects of the proposal is the long-awaited revision of the existing rules set out in the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), especially in the context of product governance and marketing communication in relation to investment products.
By Michaela Šmotková, Associate, and Iva van Leeuwen, Junior Lawyer, JSK Law Firm