EFAMA welcomes ESMA’s Call for Evidence on asset segregation and custody services as a precious occasion to confirm our previous key messages - as per our response to the previous consultation around Guidelines on asset segregation under the AIFMD of December 2014 – and to clarify our position on new aspects of ESMA’s work.

EFAMA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the European Commission’s Green Paper on retail financial services. Widening the opportunities for European citizens to save and invest will facilitate better outcomes both for savers and the wider European economy.

EFAMA fully shares the goals of a Single Market for retail financial services in the EU, i.e.:

1. Promoting an EU-wide market in retail financial services that can facilitate cross-border business and consumer choice.

Our corporate members are both subsidiaries of an EEA parent that is a credit institution as per Article 4(1)(1) of the CRR, or stand-alone investment firms as per Article 4(1)(2) of the CRR. Both types of entities risk becoming subject to the Maximum Ratio Rule as asset management companies licensed under either a UCITS or AIFM management company license, or licensed as investment firms under the MiFID regime to provide discretionary portfolio management services on a client-by-client basis.