Commission publishes an external study on the EU’s retail investor protection framework, covering disclosure, inducements and suitability rules

The study represents an important element in the Commission’s evidence gathering process in support of the forthcoming strategy on retail investments.

Disclaimer: Following a request from the European Commission for further details regarding the study’s findings as regards the costs of inducements, Kantar acknowledged an error in a previous version of the study. Kantar confirmed that for the sample analysed, which covered 176 financial products, costs for products that carry inducements are 24-26% higher than those products which do not carry inducements, and not 35% as previously reported.

Other research, including from the industry, consumer organisations and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), confirms the significance of inducements in the total costs charged to investors.

Text of the study