Is it time that the regulatory focus in the financial services industry shifts away from the authorisation of products towards the needs of investors? In an article in the December/January 2017 edition ofInternational Financial Law Review, Rosalyn Breedy argues that assumptions regarding the sophistication of high net worth investors are actually putting clients at greater risk.
Rosalyn proposes that the industry needs a frank debate about key issues including:
- Is it time to embrace the creation of a fiduciary duty?
- Is there a need for an investor protector?
- Can accountability be improved to better safeguard the interests of private investors.
Too much emphasis at the moment is being placed on how we can continue to sell financial products to Europe once we leave the EU, but this ignores the more pressing question as to whether the products in question are any good, particularly the sorts of products that are likely to be of interest to high net worth private investors
Breedy concludes that “Investors in all markets want good financial products. In the long term there may be more benefit in working on a pull mechanism rather than a passporting push. Regardless of the Brexit negotiations, London is and will continue to be an important financial market and as such it is right that the financial services sector should take the lead on this issue.”
Subscribers to International Financial Law Review can read the article here or you can download a PDF here.