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When the name MiFID II comes up, the investor profile is often the first thing that comes to mind. It is therefore an important part of the European Investor Directive. You can find out why this is the case and why you should be happy with it.
An investor profile ensures that you only receive those financial products that suit you best.
Your investor profile contains several things:
Based on your investor profile, the bank knows exactly which products it can offer you.
Your bank draws up your investor profile based on a questionnaire.
Not all institutions use the same questionnaires. Each bank can use its own questionnaire and tailor it to its product range. This way you will not get questions that are not pertinent.
In other words, a financial institution that offers options and structured products with leverage will ask different questions than a financial institution that offers simple investment funds.
Although the questions may differ, your knowledge and experience will be equally thoroughly tested everywhere.
In general, you end up with one of the following investor profiles:
The name, number and type may differ from bank to bank.
The Belgian regulator FSMA (Financial Services and Markets Authority) supervises this. Through inspections of the financial institutions, it can test the questionnaires for their completeness, coherence and reliability.
Through mystery shopping the FSMA can also verify whether the financial institutions actually draw up and comply with the customer profile correctly when they provide investment services.
No, you cannot be refused. The questionnaire serves only to prepare your investor profile.
If, based on your investor profile, your financial institution determines that a certain type of product is not suitable for you, it will not be able to recommend that specific product to you. She will then, together with you and based on your profile, look for other products that are suitable.
A financial institution may help you to understand a financial product if it determines that you have misjudged the operation of the product. For example, she can provide an information brochure.
However, she may not answer the questionnaire in your place. Nor is she allowed to suggest answers.
A MiFID questionnaire is both an opportunity for the bank to get to know you better and an opportunity for you to clarify your wishes. A fair and correct implementation is therefore in everyone's interest.
Should a financial institution nevertheless help to complete the questionnaires, it would expose itself to significant penalties. The FSMA can detect such practices through mystery shopping.