Season 3 Product Governance : Rethinking Retail Customer Protection in the EU Insurance Market

The regulation of all traditional branches - banking, securities and insurance - of financial law is going through a change in retail customer protection: in this area of the law, an eventual convergence of solutions in client protection initiatives may be found. In a context oriented towards acting in accordance with the best interest of customers, EU legislator currently seeks a new "frontier" in the protection of retail customers and tends to develop new tools and strategies in addition to the disclosure of information and conduct of business rules, in order to remove potentially detrimental products from the market. This contribution examines the "product oversight and governance" principle intended to remedy problems associated with products misselling. In the details, this trend is analyzed with reference to the upcoming insurance distribution directive.