Representatives of the European Union member states and the European Parliament agreed yesterday on new rules aimed at enhancing the protection of individual investors in financial markets by improving transparency and reducing conflicts of interest in financial advice. The agreement includes a compromise on the so-called 'individual investment strategy', which will require individual clients to receive clearer and more understandable information about investment products. These reforms are based on a proposal from the European Commission, the EU's executive body, which had initially proposed banning commissions on certain transactions carried out without financial advice.
