The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published a Joint Committee report setting out their final guidelines for complaints handling in the securities and banking sectors.

The report makes use of existing complaints-handling guidelines established by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) to ensure consistency in complaints handling across all Member States in the investment, banking and insurance sectors. The motivation behind this is also to save money for firms, streamline and standardise their complaints handling arrangements and to aid in facilitating common supervisory oversight irrespective of the type of product purchased or the location of purchase.

The final guidelines will now be translated into the official languages of the EU, and published on the ESMA and the EBA websites. The application and reporting requirement dates set out in the guidelines will start to run from the date of publication of the translations.

View ESMA and EBA publish harmonised guidelines for handling consumer complaints across the EU, 13 June 2014

View Joint Committee Final Report on guidelines for complaints-handling for the securities (ESMA) and banking (EBA) sectors, 13 June 2014