Consob, following the public consultation, with resolution no. 21867 of May 26, 2021, made some changes to the Regulations concerning the Arbitrator for Financial Disputes (ACF) approved with resolution no. 19602 of May 4, 2016, aimed at streamlining the procedure and improving its functioning.
The ACF Regulation, as expressly provided for by Article 8 (entitled “Periodic Review”) of the Regulation concerning the procedures for the adoption of general regulatory acts, adopted by Consob with resolution no. 19654 of July 5, 2016, is subjected to “periodic review, at least every three years from the date of adoption”, assessing its suitability to achieve the objectives pursued, in relation to the overall burden of the regulatory framework, which will affect the operation of an out-of-court instrument.
In this context, without prejudice to the limit of competence for a value of five hundred thousand euros, which has proved adequate to absorb the prevalent part of the disputes, the changes will concern aspects of particular interest such as:
1. the alignment of the definition of intermediaries, relevant for the purposes of the Regulation, with the new definitions of “portal managers” and “entities authorized for insurance distribution” introduced by the most recent amendments to the Consolidated Financial Act;
2. the extension of the scope of operations of the ACF to disputes relating to the violation of the obligation to deliver to the investor the document containing the key information referred to in Articles 13 and 14 of Regulation (EU) no. 1286/2014;
3. the establishment of a ten-year seniority term for the events to be submitted to the ACF;
4. the introduction of cases of inadmissibility of the appeal such as the pending arbitration or jurisdictional proceedings, the existence of a previous decision on the merits taken by the ACF, or the outcome of a judicial or arbitration proceeding;
5. the introduction of the obligation for the parties to use the forms on the website, thus favoring a document standardization process, useful for a more rapid definition of the procedure;
6. the introduction of provisions aimed at facilitating the amicable settlement of the dispute and the fulfillment of decisions, such as the possibility of late fulfillment by the unsuccessful intermediary with the consequent cancellation of the news of its original non-fulfillment;
7. the discipline in a more precise way of the system of deadlines for the conclusion of the procedure in order to speed up the decision-making phase;
8. the possibility for the parties to request a suspension of the proceedings aimed at reaching an agreement between them.
The amendments will come into force from October 1, 2021 and will apply to all appeals launched after the aforementioned date.
Attachment: Gazzetta ufficiale 7 giugno 2021 n.134
