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The European financial adviser and intermediary community includes approximately
- 630,000 private individuals exercising this profession as a main occupation (representing approximately 26,000 legal entities),
- about 300,000 are members of national professional associations (49 at today’s count)
The professional activities of advice and mediation are today penalised by extremely constraining regulations, the soaring cost of compliance procedures, the development of new technologies, and the demands of a generally distressed and ill- informed clientele.
The formulation of European legislation for financial services(1),(2), whilst being done for the protection of consumer’s interests must be applicable without pointless restraints for practitioners.
It remains a hard task for the European Commission in view of, the paltry enthusiasm of national civil servants, for anything that might represent the slightest change in their narrow view of society.
The "time bomb", which in the very short term is constituted by the pensions problem, reinforces the political need to attack the ensuing problems sooner than later, even if the politicians are showing a certain reluctance for European harmonisation of legislation, that would take a more liberal direction, and be more genuinely concerned with consumer interests, than certain national administrations might wish.
The failure of the state pension systems will open unprecedented prospects for European financial advisers and intermediaries called upon to assist the anxious consumer in the right choice of options and alternatives for the sound management of his or her inheritance.
However, the lack of training and organisation of certain financial advisers and intermediaries can create problems, and FECIF must tackle the provision of quality training courses and ensure assistance for adviser and intermediary integration, in close co-operation with its national member associations.
FECIF will continue to show determination in its representation of the fundamental interests of its members by advocating the principle of co-regulation of the profession in an environment that too often tends to be excessively regulated - to the detriment not only of consumers’ interests, but also those of the economic players.
As non-profit-making association, FECIF is an independent organisation at the exclusive service of its financial adviser and intermediary members from the 27 European Union member states, plus Switzerland and Norway
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