EC Financial Services – Developments 2002–2005

Abstract

After an introduction dealing with the new codification trend for prudential supervision and with the three categories of financial services established there, the author turns to contract law proper. He starts out with a detailed description of the Financial Services Distance Marketing Directive, which covers all providers of financial services. In particular he deals with the modifications needed to the general EC regime on distance selling. He then turns to the three categories of financial services. Firstly he deals with commercial banking and three measures which have been recently enacted or proposed in this area: the proposed new Consumer Credit Directive, which might change the approach from an information model to a more interventionist model (with a duty of ‘sensible credit giving’); the Financial Collateral Arrangements Directive, which creates the framework for the Europewide recognition of collateral placed on financial instruments (bank accounts and securities); and the equal charging rule for credit transfers, which was introduced in 2001 by the Regulation on cross-border transfers of credits. The author continues with a description of the new measures in the second category – investment banking – namely the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (replacing the Investment Services Directive) and the Hague Convention on settlement systems (private international law). He ends by detailing the new measures in the insurance business, namely the Insurance Mediation Directive and the new version of the Insurance Block Exemption.