In 2022 the number of saver appeals who have turned toArbitrator for financial disputes (ACF), the body set up at the Consob for the out-of-court settlement of disputes between intermediaries and their customers: there were 1.116 (addressed to 75 intermediaries), against 1.582 in 2021 and 1.772 in 2020.
During the 6 years of activity we have witnessed the “progressive easing of serial litigation, resulting from the events of “savings betrayed” emerged following the banking crises of late 2015 and mid-2017" said the President of Acf, Gianpaolo Barbuzzi. This type of litigation has been progressively replaced by more heterogeneous disputes unrelated to situations of instability or, worse, full-blown crisis of intermediaries. Therefore, decidedly more in line with the DNA of an out-of-court settlement body".
Consob arbitrator: 19 million compensation in 2022. 57% of appeals accepted
Savers who turned to the Acf to assert their rights were recognized last year 19 million euro of compensation for an average per capita of around 30.000 euros. 57% of appeals it found a favorable reception from the body, which detected for the first time in 2022 a dispute for non-compliance with the Crowdfunding Regulation by the manager of a portal.
Taking stock of the activity of the organism since its inception in 2017 emerges a total of 142 million returned to savers, 10.000 appeals, 9.300 pronouncements, 65% of the decisions in favor of the appellants with an application rate by intermediaries close to 100%.
"These data lead me to say" says Barbuzzi, "that the establishment of the Acf has filled a gap in protection and that the activity carried out in these six years has been effective, considering that its main purpose is to resolve disputes avoiding both parties, saver and intermediary, to wait for the still long times of civil justice".
It is down more than 40% l'backlog which in the first three years of activity (2017 - 2019) had been accumulating, again due to the "serial litigation". "The goal, announced a year ago, of zeroing the backlog by the end of 2023 is more within our reach than ever", said Barbuzzi, as he successfully continues the action aimed at bringing the deadline for the conclusion of the 'Acf within the six-month standard”
The vademecum in the relationship between savers and intermediaries
In his presentation of the data, the president then illustrated some crucial points in the relationship between savers and intermediaries. Here they are.
- Providing "more information" by the intermediary is not the same as providing "better information". The information set must be "calibrated", drawing the customer's attention to those pieces of information, among others, which generate authentic awareness of the characteristics and implications, in terms of risk, of the investment.
- The profiling questionnaire (Mifid questionnaire) must be the saver's identity card, reflecting today's image and tomorrow's expectations: intermediaries must not limit themselves to uncritically accepting the information provided by the customer, but promote a dialogue and a open comparison so as to remove any inconsistencies and incompleteness
- With the acceleration of online banking and financial services, litigation deriving from investments made in online trading systems is also growing, where there are often pitfalls for savers linked to the immediate and direct accessibility of financial instruments. The recommendation to intermediaries is to provide information on the financial product that is as visible as possible on the website, in order to offer the broadest guarantees of protection to customers.
- Any disputes concerning crypto-assets of a financial nature and relating to the provision of investment services by authorized intermediaries can already now be submitted to the examination of the ACF.
- With savers' interest in sustainable investments growing, the Acf will pay particular attention to disputes over the supply of these products, where there is the possibility of high conflict. Intermediaries should detect customers' sustainability preferences not only in formal terms but in terms of actual knowledge of sustainable products, and avoid opportunistic logics in the placement of financial products
In which cases can the ACF be used?
Sul Consob website the cases and ways to appeal to the Arbitrator of financial disputes are indicated. In summary, disputes can be submitted to the ACF between a “retail” investor and an “intermediary”, which concern the violation by the intermediaries of the obligations of diligence, correctness, information and transparency that the law imposes on them when they provide investment services and the collective asset management service.
The appeal must contain the name of the intermediary and the description of the facts, as well as an indication of the sum requested. It can be presented the appeal directly or through a prosecutor or a consumer association. Resorting to the ACF is free. The presentation of the appeal takes place online, through the ACF website, following the specific operating instructions. It is necessary to register on the site and, having obtained the credentials, access the reserved area and propose the appeal.
The program leads step by step in entering all the necessary information, warning of any inaccuracies and incompleteness. It then allows you to upload documents, some of which are necessary (identity document of the appellant, complaint presented to the intermediary and relative presentation certificate).
the ACF, received the appeal, evaluates within 10 days if it is complete and regular and, if it is, promptly sends it to the intermediary via the IT platform which the intermediary can access through his own reserved area on the Arbitrator's website. The intermediary has 30 days (45 if they are assisted by a trade association) to submit their observations via the platform in order to defend themselves and prove that they have acted in compliance with the rules. The appellant can reply by uploading further considerations and documentation to the platform in the following 15 days, which can be followed by a rejoinder.
At this point the file is closed and the dispute is ready to be submitted to the ACF Board for decision.
