Contacts: Vito Vittore Elena Pagnoni Luigi Bonifacio
The Authority intends to drive the attention of the public on the risks involved in the investment in speculative and complex products, particularly in the current market scenario whereby there is a proliferation of aggressive advertisement and selling practices targeting retail investors, often carried out via on-line platforms. In such instance, the investment in these types of products could turn into significant detriment for the investors, who might underestimate or fail to understand the real risks involved.Following up on the previous warning released in 2013, ESMA warns the public about the major risks involved when investing in speculative products:
Senior Partner
Of counsel
Associate
ESMA: second warning on CFDs and other speculative products
[Newsflash n. 9]
On 25 July, in the context of its supervisory and control activity on the retail market and following its Opinion on MiFID practices for firms selling complex products, ESMA issued a new warning regarding contracts for difference (CFDs), binary options and other speculative products (the “Products”) with the aim to address increasing investor protection concerns.
On the same topic, and with the goal of promoting a common supervisory approach in relation to the sale of speculative products to retail investors, ESMA also published an updated Q&A on the provision of Products to retail investors under MiFID, addressing the following issues:
The above-mentioned ESMA’s documents can be found at the following links:
Please do not hesitate to contact should you need any clarification on the warning or on the Q&A.