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4.4.3. Issues specific to financial services

COMMISSION NOTICE – Guidance on the interpretation and application of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market · European Union

Since a robust set of EU sector-specific legislation exists in this sector, the ‘safety net’ character of the UCPD is particularly apparent here (435). Financial services are defined by Directive 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (436) as ‘any service of a banking, credit, insurance, personal pension, investment or payment nature’ (437). Several types of sector-specific EU legislation are of relevance for consumer protection in relation to financial services. Examples would be: Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments (MiFID 2); Directive (EU) 2015/2366 on payment services; Directive 2008/48/EC on credit agreements for consumers; Directive 2014/17/EU on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property; Directive 2014/92/EU on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features; Directive (EU) 2016/97 on insurance distribution; Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of the European Parliament and of the Council (438) on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions; Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 on key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs). Financial service products are often difficult to understand and can involve significant economic risks, so traders should take particular care to act with the standard of skill and care which can reasonably be expected from a professional within this field of commercial activity cf. Article 5(2)(a) UCPD. Traders should also not engage in misleading practices as set out in Articles 6 and 7 UCPD, such as: lack of information in advertising on the annual percentage rate of charge (APR) and the cost of credit; offers of misleading bargains for credit contracts with a low interest rate; lack of proper information on the legal obligations related to the signing of contracts. Articles 8 and 9 set out criteria for assessing aggressive commercial practices. In particular, point No 27 of Annex I to the Directive refers to an aggressive commercial practice in the field of financial services and therefore must be considered unfair in all circumstances: National authorities have extensively applied the UCPD in the field of financial services.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.