PwC's Managing upstream risk: Regulatory reform review - An asian perspective November 2013 | Page 13

2.7 Securities and Banking Sectors

Update

ESMA and EBA on 6 November 2013 launched
a joint consultation on complaints handling in
the securities and markets sectors. ESMA and
the EBA are proposing to develop complaint
handling guidelines for the investment and
banking sectors that are identical to the existing
EIOPA guidelines for the insurance sector. The
objective is to provide EU consumers with a
single set of complaints handling arrangements,

Guideline 1 –

irrespective of the type of product or service
and of the geographical location of the firm
in question. This will also allow firms to
streamline and standardise their complaints
handling arrangements and national regulators
to supervise the same requirements across all
sectors of financial services. The three ESAs are
doing so through guidelines that, once adopted,
would apply equally across all 28 Member
States and will be the same for all three sectors
of financial services. The guidelines are detailed
in the table below.

Competent authorities should ensure that:
a) A ‘complaints management policy’ is put in place by firms. This policy should be defined
and endorsed by the firm’s senior management, who should also be responsible for its
implementation and for monitoring compliance with it.

Complaints management
policy

b) This ‘complaints management policy’ is set out in a (written) document e.g. as part of a
‘general (fair) treatment policy’.
c) The ‘complaints management policy’ is made available to all relevant staff of the firm
through an adequate internal channel.
Guideline 2 –
Complaints management
function
Guideline 3 –
Registration
Guideline 4 –
Reporting
Guideline 5 –
Internal follow-up of
complaints-handling

Competent authorities should ensure that firms have a complaints management function which
enables complaints to be investigated fairly and possible conflicts of interest to be identified and
mitigated.
Competent authorities should ensure that firms register, internally, complaints in accordance
with national timing requirements in an appropriate manner (for example, through a secure
electronic register).
Competent authorities should ensure that firms provide information on complaints and
complaints-handling to the competent authorities or ombudsman. This data