Cross-border Financial Intermediation in the European Union, Slovakia and Czech Republic

Abstract

The paper discusses the sectoral regulatory framework for distribution (intermediation) of financial services under the EU framework (most notably IDD and Mortgage Credit Directive) and how it is implemented into Slovak integrated (cross-sectoral) regulatory regime for financial intermediation. The notable feature of Slovak regime is that it regulates financial intermediation in all main financial sectors (deposit taking, lending including mortgage and consumer loans, capital markets, insurance, pensions) under common framework. However, the harmonisation through EU law and consequent benefits of the single passport are limited to the distribution of insurance and mortgage loans. The paper further compares the Slovak regime with Czech approach with the aim to investigate potential benefits or risks of the further harmonisation of the regulation of financial intermediation / distribution and also financial advisory across various sectors of the national and wider EU financial market. On one hand, further integration may help creating more sophisticated and complex distribution platforms across the EU benefiting from the single passport. On the other hand, it is questionable whether the Slovak approach can be successfully replicated at the EU level.