THE PURCHASERS OF INVESTMENT PRODUCTS WILL PASS EXAMINATIONS

Within the framework of the draft law on the categorization of investors signed in July, among the innovations of which was the presence of mandatory testing of buyers of securities, the International Confederation of Consumer Societies (ICCS) turned to the Central Bank with a proposal.

The initiative of ICCS is to establish a mandatory exam for buyers of investment products.

The list includes investment and endowment life insurance programs (IIP and ELIP), individual investment accounts (IIA), and hybrid deposits. The latter represent the presence of an increased rate on the deposit in the case of investing part of the funds in the IIP, ELIP or IIA.

Among the arguments in favor of the new exam, the ICCS calls the fact that the banks mislead their clients regarding the profitability of the investment products. The advantages of this type of investment compared to deposits are described on the websites of credit institutions, as well as by the bank managers, but the designation of the risky nature of such an activity remains “outside the brackets”.

At the same time, the representatives of ICCS noted that the mentioned investment products have significant risks for consumers. In particular, the state does not provide insurance guarantees for deposits on them, and there is also no guaranteed profitability and the possibility of early withdrawal of all the funds.