In June, Becobra participated in the annual BIPAR conference in Dublin, where we were warmly welcomed by our colleagues from Brokers Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the conference, representatives of the European institutions, supervisory authorities and national professional associations discussed the key developments affecting financial services, insurance and distribution. Speakers included John Berrigan, Director-General of DG FISMA (Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) at the European Commission, Regina Doherty (European Parliament) and Val\u00e9rie Mariatte-Wood (EIOPA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first sight, the topics discussed appeared quite diverse. Yet many of the conversations ultimately revolved around the same fundamental question: how can Europe support innovation, strengthen the resilience of citizens and businesses, and at the same time mobilise more capital for investment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the European institutions, Europe does not suffer from a lack of capital, but from a lack of investment. A frequently cited figure is that approximately \u20ac10 trillion of savings currently remain in deposit accounts rather than being invested in the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Savings and Investments Union (SIU)<\/em> aims to address this challenge. The objective is not to encourage people to save more, but to make it easier, safer and more attractive to channel existing savings into investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The insurance sector has an important role to play in this regard. Insurers are among Europe\u2019s largest institutional investors. At the same time, intermediaries are increasingly recognised as trusted advisers who help individuals and businesses make financial decisions and plan for the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Retail Investment Strategy (RIS)<\/em> should be viewed through that same lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Commission starts from the premise that citizens will only invest more if they have sufficient trust in products, markets and distribution channels. Work undertaken by EIOPA and ESMA has highlighted concerns regarding product performance and the transparency and understanding of costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RIS seeks to address these issues through greater transparency throughout the life cycle of a product, a strengthened Value for Money<\/em> framework, additional safeguards around conflicts of interest and inducements, and greater supervisory convergence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps even more significant is the broader shift in the debate. The focus is moving away from simply demonstrating that information has been provided and increasingly towards the question of what concrete value the customer actually receives. Concepts such as Value for Money<\/em>, best interest of the client<\/em> and tangible benefit<\/em> are becoming increasingly central.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The experiences shared by the Netherlands and France were particularly interesting in this respect, illustrating how the focus is gradually shifting from transparency obligations towards the actual value delivered to the customer. In the Netherlands, this discussion is closely linked to the commission transparency legislation that entered into force in 2024. Although implementation required considerable effort, the debate is gradually moving away from remuneration itself towards the value of the services provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The French presentation offered an equally interesting insight into a highly structured customer journey, with a strong emphasis on suitability assessments, documentation, cost disclosures and value for money. In several respects, this approach may provide an indication of the direction Europe is taking through RIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another interesting discussion concerned the coexistence of advised and non-advised models. Not all consumers have the same needs or expectations. For some customers, personal advice remains essential, while others are primarily looking for simple, accessible and cost-efficient solutions. Several speakers emphasised that both models should be able to coexist. This too forms part of the broader European ambition to encourage greater participation in capital markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside investment, resilience remains a key European concern. This was reflected in discussions on the pension protection gap, the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP), natural catastrophes and cyber risks. The underlying question is always the same: how can citizens and businesses remain adequately protected in an increasingly complex environment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several sessions also explored the conditions required to keep the European financial sector competitive, innovative and trustworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This debate goes beyond individual legislative files. Digitalisation and artificial intelligence are creating new opportunities in risk assessment, operational efficiency and compliance. At the same time, speakers repeatedly stressed that trust cannot be built through technology alone. Transparency, fairness, accountability and the avoidance of bias remain essential principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another recurring theme was simplification. Both the European Commission and EIOPA acknowledge that excessive complexity can discourage investment and generate unnecessary costs. The objective is therefore not less protection, but smarter regulation: smarter rules rather than lower standards<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, it became clear that simplification is not straightforward. Several discussions highlighted the challenge of balancing flexibility, proportionality and legal certainty. The ongoing discussions on the RIS Level 2 measures illustrate this tension. How can unnecessary complexity be avoided without sacrificing clarity? There is no simple answer yet, but the importance of a mature dialogue between the sector and supervisors was repeatedly emphasised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From 1 July onwards, Ireland will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Competitiveness, the Savings and Investments Union and simplification are expected to feature prominently on the agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the sector, further developments can be expected in the coming months, particularly regarding the implementation of RIS, the review of SFDR and the continued development of the European anti-money laundering framework. By contrast, it was noteworthy that the Financial Data Access (FIDA) proposal did not appear to feature prominently on the current European agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In June, Becobra participated in the annual BIPAR conference in Dublin, where we were warmly welcomed by our colleagues from Brokers Ireland. During the conference, representatives of the European institutions, supervisory authorities and national professional associations discussed the key developments affecting financial services, insurance and distribution. Speakers included John Berrigan, Director-General of DG FISMA (Financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,44],"tags":[83,91],"rol":[81],"class_list":["post-10847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-dossiers","category-legal-affairs-and-compliance","tag-private","tag-slotje","rol-standaard-lid"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10847"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10871,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10847\/revisions\/10871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10847"},{"taxonomy":"rol","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becobra.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rol?post=10847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}RIS: building trust in capital markets<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Investment also requires protection, trust and a future-proof framework<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n