In an effort to bolster market confidence, European securities and banking regulators have published a report setting out common complaint handling guidelines that will apply across all financial sectors throughout the European Union (EU).
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report Friday that aims to ensure a harmonized approach to handling complaints across all financial sectors within the EU.
The guidelines, which are based on the existing complaint-handling guidelines for the insurance sector, were issued for public consultation last year, and the final version takes effect two months after they are translated into the EU’s various official languages.
The regulators say that the guidelines will ensure a consistent approach to complaint-handling across the EU, regardless of the sector the customer deals with, or the type of product they have purchased.
In addition to strengthening consumer protection, the regulators stress that the guidelines will also allow firms to streamline and standardize their complaint-handling arrangements. And, they say national regulators will be able to supervise the same harmonized requirements across all sectors of financial services in their own jurisdictions.