11.30 to 13.00 Financial Services for Consumers (parallel thematic workshops)
1. Safe financial products
Mis-selling is the scourge of the financial industry and a major reason for the crisis – from mortgages to pensions to various forms of insurance. This session/workshop will consider: what constitutes a safe product that meets consumer’s needs? How to make these products understandable and user-friendly for consumers? Should unsafe and unsuitable products be banned and how? What kind of policy interventions is most effective for product regulation? How to avoid regulation ‘shopping’ through international co-operation
Moderator: Anne Fily, Head of Economic Affairs, BEUC
David Thomas, Principal Ombudsman, Financial Ombudsman Service, UK
Michaela Koller, Director General, European Insurance and Reinsurance Federation
Rasmus Kjeldahl, Director, Danish Consumer Council
Rapporteur: Annik Lambert, Secretary General, European Mortgage Federation
2. Financial Advice and Sales
A look at the role of firms/institutions and intermediaries in selling products and how they are regulated; the role of incentive payments: should independent advice be based on consumer fees or commissions? What role do regulators and governments have in providing impartial advice? Should there be impartial advice services, including those provided by NGOs/Consumer groups? And do we need improved financial literacy or simpler products?
Moderator: Jill Johnstone, Director of International Policy Advocacy, Consumer Focus
Robert Kleindienst, Slovene Banking Association
Lindsey Rogerson, Member of the UK Financial Services Authority Consumer Panel and freelance financial journalist
Gerjoke Wilmink, Director, National Institute of Budget Information
Rapporteur: Gail Hillebrand, Senior Attorney and Manager, Financial Services, Consumers Union, US
3. Financial Regulation and Role of Regulatory authorities
How much protection consumers need when buying financial products and services? How to strike the right balance to ensure proper safeguards while avoiding too much restriction on the availability of products and services? What reforms are needed at both international and domestic levels to achieve this, and long term financial stability? And what are the duties of regulators in protecting consumers? Is there need for a supra-national regulatory co-ordinator/authority?
Moderator: John Nichols, The Nation magazine, US
Darko Bohnec, Vice Governor of the Slovene Central Bank
Julian Edwards, Consumer Senior Advisor, Financial Services Authority, UK
Rob Dorscheid, Manager of General Campaigns and Policy, Consumentenbond
Rapporteur: Doug Taylor, Head of Economic Advocacy, Which?
13.00 to 14.30 Lunch
14.30 to 16.00 Plenary II: Making Financial Services Work; results from the parallel workshops and discussion
Moderator: Antonia Fokkema, DG Health and Consumer Protection
Annik Lambert, Secretary General, European Mortgage Federation
Gail Hillebrand, Senior Attorney and Manager, Financial Services, Consumers Union, US
Doug Taylor, Head of Economic Advocacy, Which?
16.00 to 16.15 Coffee break
16.15 to 17.30 Plenary III: Providing essential services for consumers, including the vulnerable; alternative business models
Moderator: Monique Goyens, Director General of European Consumer Organization BEUC
Keynote speech: Ann Pettifor, fellow New Economics Foundation, Executive Director of Advocacy International
Mark Bailey, President, Irish League of Credit Unions
Prof. Udo Reifner, Institute for Financial Services, Germany
Bernard Bayot, President of the European Financial Inclusion Network
Mary Bottari, Director, Real Economy Project, Center for Media and Democracy, US
Prof. Udo Reifner, Institute for Financial Services, Germany
Bernard Bayot, President of the European Financial Inclusion Network
Mary Bottari, Director, Real Economy Project, Center for Media and Democracy, US
17.30 to 18.00 Concluding remarks and concrete proposals for the future
