Page 50 - BIPAR Annual Report 2020_EN

DMD - Evaluation by the
In its press release, EBA stresses that it will ensure a: “proportionate imple-
mentation of this new framework to take account of the different classes of
investments firms”. ESMA will also be actively involved in the development
of the level 2 measures.
Finally, to assess the impact of the provisions proposed in the regulatory
deliverables, the EBA also launched a data collection exercise on a volun-
tary basis.
Next steps
The Agreement between the Commission, Parliament and Council still has
to be published in the Official Journal of the EU.
The Regulation will enter into force after publication in the Official Jour-
nal and will apply from 18 months after its entry into force. Regarding the
Directive, Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive 18
months after its entry into force and it will apply as of the same date as the
Regulation.
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European Commission
In April 2019, the Commission launched its consultation on the evaluation Background
of the Directive on distance marketing of consumer financial services.
As announced in its roadmap, on this issue, the evaluation will gather evi- The Distance Marketing of Financial
dence regarding the functioning of the DMD in its totality and, in particular, Services Directive (Directive 2002/65/
regarding the following aspects:
EC, DMD) aims at ensuring the free
• scope of services covered movement of financial services in
• information disclosure the single market by harmonising
• right of withdrawal consumer protection rules governing
• unsolicited services and communications
• regulatory choices by Member States this area. The Directive sets out a list of
• interplay with product-specific legislation in the field of retail financial information concerning the financial
services, the e-commerce framework and horizontal consumer protec- service and its provider that the
tion rules.
consumer should receive before the
The results of the consultation will help the Commission assess the Direc- distance contract is concluded. It also
tive’s coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and EU added value. grants, for certain financial services,
The consultation consisted of two short questionnaires. One was aimed a right of withdrawal of 14 days to the
at the general public, the other to stakeholders such as BIPAR (with ques-
tions on relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence with other EU texts consumer. Finally, the Directive bans
including the IDD, etc.) services and communications from
suppliers which are not solicited nor
In its response to the Commission questionnaire, BIPAR explained that
BIPAR supports the European Commission’s initiative to carry out an evalu- consented by the consumers. The DMD
ation of the DMD. BIPAR welcomes in particular the Commission’s inten- applies to insurance intermediaries
tion to focus its evaluation on the functioning of the DMD from “a cost/ when distributing products under
benefit and burden reduction perspective”.
an organised distance sales /service
Since the adoption of the DMD in 2002, new sector specific EU rules apply- provision scheme and exclusively
ing to the distribution of financial/insurance services/products like the via one or more means of distance
Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) and new horizontal EU rules on con- communication.
sumer protection like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) have
been introduced. These new EU rules have introduced new pre-contractual
information or disclosure requirements. BIPAR therefore agrees with the
Commission’s approach to evaluate the interplay of the DMD with these
new EU rules, and to avoid any possible duplication in particular for the
sake of better consumer protection and legal clarity. Therefore, any revised
DMD should only include requirements specific to the distance marketing
of consumer financial services/products and focus inter alia, for example,
on a better protection of vulnerable consumers.
BIPAR also underlined that the technology-neutral approach of the DMD is
completely appropriate and should be maintained. It prevents distortion of
competition and does not favour one channel of distribution in particular.
Regulation should deliver the same protection regardless of channel and
consumers will determine what suits them best. It is important that all con-
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