26 Amendments of Marisa MATIAS related to 2016/2056(INI)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the rapid transformation brought about by digitisation and fintech innovation not only creates new and often bettercan create an easier and faster access to financial products for consumers, but also involvesposing key challenges in terms of security, data protection, consumer protection and taxation;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the Commission should ensure that citizens continue to have access to best offers in the internal market also through non-digital channels to avoid financial exclusion;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes thePoints out that the European Commission Green Paper on retail financial services (defined as including insurance) and the vivid and productive debate that it has generated so far; links up with, and is complemented by, initiatives such as the Digital Single Market, the Capital Markets Union, and the Single Market Strategy, whose aims and effects entail more extreme economic deregulation for the benefit of big business and the EU’s major powers, thus damaging workers, micro, small, and medium-sized entrepreneurs, and national production systems and hence running counter to the interests of peoples, workers, and Member States;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. FindViews the Green Paper initiative to be timely, particularly given the need to work proactively at all stages of the policymaking process in order to be able to trackwith great disquiet, and once again deplores the fact that opportunities for digitalisation and consumer empowerment are being used as a pretext to set up a single market for retail financial services whose chief consequences will be on the one hand to intensify the free movement of capital and, steer developments in such an innovative and fast-changing market; econdly, to wipe out smaller businesses operating in the sector and thereafter to concentrate capital and wealth in the hands of the largest EU- wide financial groups, thus enhancing their hegemony and diminishing the autonomy and sovereignty of Member States;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises, in particular because of that the low levels of consumer trust and satisfaction, that the Green Paper initiative can succeed only if it has a strong focus on creating an EU market in which well-protected consumers have access to transparent, straightforward and good-value-for-money products; where financial services are concerned have been caused by the behaviour of financial institutions themselves, since the 2007/2008 financial crisis, subsequent events in the retail banking sector in several Member States, and the sector’s own direct and indirect involvement in tax avoidance and evasion schemes have been the driving forces behind this dissatisfaction and the sector’s bad reputation; considers it important, therefore, to improve consumer financial literacy and to make financial products more transparent; takes the view, however, that access to transparent, straightforward and good-value-for-money products will not be sufficient to reverse the current situation and that, in order to make this happen, not only will financial institutions have to change their attitude to their customers, but a proper legal framework will also need to be established, alongside strong regulators and public scrutiny of the financial system;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises, in particular because of low levels of consumer trust and satisfaction, that the Green Paper initiative can succeed only if it has a strong focus on creating an EU market in which well- protected consumers have access to transparent, straightforward and good- value-for-money productsconsumers are effectively protected;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that all initiatives based on the Green Paper should be compatible with stepping upTakes the view that the possibility for customers to open bank accounts with institutions not physically based in their Member State of residence, without having to go to the offices of such institutions in person, and for remote signature of contracts and distance verification of identity to be used for that purpose, will serve not only to encourage capital flight in future financial crises, but also to undermine measures to combat money laundering; is accordingly concerned about the impact which initiatives based on the Green Paper might have on the stability of the financial system and economies, and on the effectiveness of measures to combat money laundering and of the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that all initiatives based on the Green Paper should be compatible with stepping up the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion; warns that unfair competition may derive from ability to operate from tax-friendly jurisdictions within and outside the EU; urges the Commission to harmonize tax treatment of financial services within EU;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes the increasing complexity of retail financial products; insists on the need to develop initiatives and instruments thatregulations that actively limit retail products' complexity, allowing consumers to identifyaccess safe and simple products within the range of products available to them; supports initiatives such as the Key Investment Information Document for undertakings for collective investments in transferrable securities (UCITS) and the Key Information Document for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs);
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes the increasing complexity of retail financial products; insists on the need to develop initiatives and instruments that allow consumers to identify safe and simple products within the range of products available to them; supportstakes note of initiatives such as the Key Investment Information Document for undertakings for collective investments in transferrable securities (UCITS) and the Key Information Document for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs);
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. RecallsDeplores the fact that none of the recent developments in the legislative framework for the banking sector, in particular the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive and the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive; insists on the need to inform consumers fully about the impact of the new rule has served to separate investment banking from retail banking, to prohibit retail banks – having granted loans – from selling them to investment banks, or to prohibit securitisation of assets;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls the recent developments in the legislative framework for the banking sector, in particular the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive and the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive; insists onthat the need to inform consumers fully about the impact of the new rules is not a substitute for effective product regulation, as the retail financial services market is characterised by extremely asymmetrical information;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Warns that the Green Paper on retail financial services, while ostensibly seeking to reap the benefits of technological development, is proving to be a means of boosting the profits of large retail financial institutions, in particular by reducing operating and labour costs, as demonstrated by its key proposal that those companies should be allowed to offer their products in any Member State without having to be physically based there;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes that consumers' financial and non-financial data collected from different sources are being increasingly used by financial service providers for various purposes, in particular in credit and insurance sectors; stresses that the use of personal data and big data by financial service providers should comply with the EU data protection legislation, be strictly limited to what is necessary to provide the service and bring benefits to consumers; in this perspective, the demutualisation of risk in insurance triggered by the big data should be under close scrutiny;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the Commission to assess what information is needed and sufficient to conduct an appropriate creditworthiness assessment by the lender; based on the assessment, propose binding measures regulating the creditworthiness assessment process; scrutinise the relevance of private credit bureaus' activities related to collecting and processing consumer data in order to ensure that consumer rights are fully respected;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that frontline employees at financial institutions have a crucial role to play in opening up retail services to all strands of society and to consumers all over Europe; points out that such employees should, in principle, be given the training and time necessary to be able to serve their customers accurately, and should cannot be made subject to sales targets, incentives or inducements that could bias or distort their adviceservice; notes that cross- selling and mis-selling of financial products and services are mainly caused by sales-driven remuneration of sales staff and intermediaries; stresses, however, that frontline employees are not and cannot be made responsible for product design and dishonest business strategies, much less for regulatory failures;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Takes the view, furthermore, that in widening the possibility of obtaining retail financial services at a distance, the aim is to bring about the closure of physical branches dealing with the public in person, which will detract from the quality of the service provided and lead to redundancies in the retail financial services sector; points out that remote service provision relies on customer support services staffed by subcontracting to temporary employment agencies, which are associated with insecure employment relationships, precarious working conditions, and low wages, and in which workers cannot obtain a contract with a service-providing firm, even when they have been working for that firm for several years;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission to introduce simple and standardised product rules, default options in different product categories, and the obligation to perform a horizontal product suitability check that all financial providers and intermediaries should apply; Compliance with these rules should be confirmed by regulator before a financial product or service can be sold to the consumer;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Calls on the Commission to address the issue of mis-selling of financial products and services; introduce a full ban on cross-selling, (except specific cases defined by European regulations) commissions and inducements for sales of investment products;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Asks the Commission to investigate further the confusing and sometimes misleading practices with which consumers are faced when making card payments and ATM withdrawals involving currency conversion, and to present a coherent solution that would make it possible, including in practice, for the consumer to understand and control the situation fully;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20