EC Financial Services and Contract Law – Developments 2005–2007

Abstract

The contribution is a follow-up of the overview published in ERCL 2005, 482. While the law with respect to prudential supervision changed little, contract law developed considerably. This is so despite the fact that no important new legislation has been adopted: In the area of commercial banking, the new Consumer Credit Directive is still under discussion. There is, however, an ambitious project to regulate all payment instruments in one sole legal measure, namely: credit transfers, credit and debit cards and direct debit. In the area of investment banking, the Market in Financial Instruments Directive of 2004 (MiFID) had to be transposed in the Member States until 1st November 2007. This is important because the so-called Lamfalussy regulatory architecture which was used for this directive is about integrating more coherently EC legislation, national transposition and effective implementation. Therefore, while giving a general overview as well, the article concentrates on these two developments: the proposal for a payments directive and the transposition of the MiFID.