CII EU Update 13: Plus ça Change, Plus c’est la Même Chose: European Regulation in a Changing Political Context

- Political context: the Eurozone crisis in the last three months has created a traumatic backdrop for EU relations, especially financial regulation. There has been much speculation over whether the UK’s decision not to support the Lisbon Treaty changes will help or hinder the very market that the veto was supposed to protect.
- MiFID-2: the European Commission (EC) published a MiFID legislative proposal in November 2011: Included are changes in key themes: definition of independent advice, banning commission for independent advisers, execution-only, level playing field between market participants, increased market transparency.
- Insurance Mediation Directive: with MiFID now before the Parliament, its sister directive for insurance in the form of a revised Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) is expected in March 2012. In November 2011, the EC made public an analysis report by Price Waterhouse Coopers which assessed the implications of the revisions.
- European Court ruling on gender and insurance pricing: HM Treasury has published a consultation setting out how this will be implemented in the UK, and the European Commission has prepared guidance on what, and more importantly, what is not caught by the ruling.
- EIOPA consumer protection: nearing its first anniversary, the authority has set out in more detail its proposed strategy for consumer protection, which includes “taking a courageous look at conflicts of interest.”
- EC Review of Mortgages: this year’s EC proposal to reform the European residential mortgage market has met much debate in Parliament. Crucially it will have implications on the UK’s own Mortgage Market Review.