An Assessment of the Extent of an Identified Need for Simplified, Standard Financial Services Products

Due to concerns that financial services products were too complicated for consumers, proposals have been made in the UK to have a range of products with prescribed characteristics and that will receive the benefit of having lower regulation of the sales process. The European Commission asked CRA to examine whether other countries in the European Union had also taken this approach to the financial services sector. CRA investigated 14 Member States and 10 products as wide ranging as bank accounts, pensions, home insurance, collective investment schemes, and financial advice.
In addition to considering the need for simplified products for individual countries, the report also considers the impact of standardized products on cross border trade within the European Union. Click here to download the member states version of this report.