The European Commission is to delay discussion of whether the introduction of packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (Priips) legislation should be delayed until November 22, five weeks prior to its proposed implementation date.
The timing of the debate, announced quietly in the Commission’s latest agenda calendar, will undoubtedly increase calls for postponement. When the legislation’s controversial regulatory technical standards (RTS) suffered a landslide defeat in the European Parliament in September, key industry figures urged the Commission to put introduction on hold for as much as a year.
If the original implementation date of December 31 this year stands, asset management firms will have little idea of the steps they must take to ensure their businesses and products are compliant – and little time in which to implement the necessary internal changes.
While it is uncertain whether the regulations will be delayed, some commentators are convinced that the original deadline will stand. On the same day the RTS were defeated in Parliament, Silverfinch, a technology firm, held a discussion event in London that explored and discussed the regulation; a majority of panellists were certain Priips would be implemented by January 1 next year.
As a result of this uncertainty, Mario Mantrisi, chief strategy and research officer at Kneip, said firms affected by Priips must not pause their preparations. According to a Kneip survey, 85% of respondents were “caught off-guard” by Priips.
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