The chief executive of the Wealth Management Association, said the Priips legislation “recognises the needs of the UK’s investors and means common sense prevails to enable them to enjoy their freedom to invest”. He said he welcomed the decision made by the European Parliament, when it voted on 15 April to approve several amendments to ensure retail investors can trade in real time without potentially disadvantageous delays.
Broadly speaking, Priips can be categorised into four groups: investment funds, insurance-based investment products, retail structured securities and structured term deposits.
In its original form, the Priips ruling would have required retail investors to return signed key information documents for each investment before trades took place, which could have put an end to real-time share dealing in listed funds in the UK.
The WMA claimed victory for the changes, suggesting the vote would “secure freedoms for individual investors”.
Mr May said: “Consumer protection doesn’t have to come at a cost to consumer choice.”
| Key amendments to Priips regulation |
- Changes to the scope of the rules that mean ordinary company shares and bonds do not need key information documents. - Removal of the requirement to return a signed KID before making an investment transaction. - Recognition that discretionary fund managers act on behalf of their clients, and can therefore receive a KID on the client’s behalf. - Exemption for investment managers to provide the KID after a transaction, rather than before, when the transaction is requested by the client and the service is not offered face-to-face. - Confirmation that responsibility for producing KIDs lies entirely with the manufacturers of investment products, not the investment professionals who acquire them for their clients. |
Adviser view
Jonathan Rimmer, director at Shropshire-based Darwin Wealth Management, said: “This is fine, as long as all the other ‘know your client’ information is assembled. It’s good the option is there if clients want more flexibility.”
