Point of Sale disclosure in the insurance, banking and securities sectors

Point of Sale disclosure in the insurance, banking and securities sectors identifies and assesses differences and gaps in regulatory approaches to point of sale (POS) disclosure for investment and savings products across the insurance, banking and securities sectors. The report considers whether regulatory approaches to POS disclosure need to be further aligned across sectors, and it makes a number of recommendations, mainly to policymakers and supervisors, to assist them in considering, developing or modifying their POS disclosure regulations:

1. Jurisdictions should consider implementing a concise written or electronic POS disclosure document for the product sample identified in this report, taking into account the jurisdiction's regulatory regime.
2. The POS disclosure document should be provided to consumers free of charge, before the time of purchase.
3. A jurisdiction considering POS disclosure should consider requiring that a POS disclosure document disclose key characteristics including costs, risks and financial benefits or other features of a given product and any underlying or referenced assets, investments or indices, irrespective of the financial sector from which the products are derived.
4. The POS disclosure document should be clear, fair, not misleading and written in a plain language designed to be understandable by the consumer.
5. The POS disclosures should include the same type of information to facilitate comparison of competing products.
6. The POS disclosure document should be concise, set out key information about a product and may include, as appropriate, links or refer to other information. It should make clear that it does not provide exhaustive information.
7. Allocation of responsibility for preparing, making available and/or delivering the POS disclosure document should be clearly established, and the POS disclosure document should identify which entity is responsible for its content.
8. A jurisdiction considering POS disclosure should consider how to use its capabilities and powers to implement these POS recommendations, taking into account the jurisdiction's regulatory regime.

Comments on this consultative report should be submitted by Friday 18 October 2013 by e-mail to baselcommittee@bis.org. Alternatively, comments may be sent by post to: Secretariat of the Joint Forum (BCBS Secretariat), Bank for International Settlements, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. All comments may be published on the websites of the Bank for International Settlements, IAIS and IOSCO unless a commenter specifically requests confidential treatment.

The Joint Forum was established in 1996 under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to deal with issues common to the banking, securities and insurance sectors, including the regulation of financial conglomerates.