While the discussions on the set-up of a Capital Markets Union have increased in intensity, the 2015 budget of European Supervisory Authorities, whose main goal is to contribute to the gradual creation of a safe and dynamic European market for financial services, has been cut significantly. In essence, these budgetary decisions re-launch the debate on the sharing of tasks between European and domestic supervisory authorities and call into question what type of financial services market is wanted for the European Union: its level of integration, the dynamism of its innovations and the appropriateness of its rules for consumer and investor protection. Against that background, ECRI and CEPS are jointly organising their first Annual Conference on Consumer/Investor Protection and Innovation in EU Financial Services on 12 May 2015 in Brussels. The objective is to provide a platform for an exchange of good practices across the various supervisors and providers of financial services and to contribute to higher regulatory consistency across the different segments of financial services. As such, the scope is relatively wide and intends to include retail financial services (credit, savings and payment), as well as investments and insurance. The programme will feature key stakeholders in the financial services sector and high-level speakers from the European institutions, national authorities, the financial industry and academia. This inaugural annual conference will first explore the risk of market dysfunctions triggered by growing innovation in banking business models. Innovation will also be debated with respect to the policy design process, especially by considering the role that the increasingly popular behavioural economics can play in the refinement of the enacted rules and the overall supervision of financial services. A third panel will address the growing possibilities offered by the processes of personal data collection in the design of better-tailored financial products to meet consumer/investor needs and the risk that these processes may infringe on consumers’ right to privacy. Finally, each year, one specific type of financial services will be singled out for in-depth coverage. This year’s conference will focus on payments and the fast process of their digitalisation and its implications for consumers, payment providers and regulators. The conference will also be the occasion to launch a new ECRI Task Force Report on household financing in the post-crisis period.
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