The armonisation of the EC law of financial markets in the perspective of consumer protection

The harmonisation of the EC law of Financial Markets in the perspective of Consumer Protection (di Guido Alpa) - ABSTRACT: In this essay the author comments the Directive 2000/12/E.C. of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 20th March, 2000, amended by Directive 2000/28/E.C. of the 18th September 2000, which fulfills the task of coordinating, in a text which the directive itself holds out to be inspired by aims of rationality and clarity, all the directives on the subject matter of the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions, eliminating the overlapping among the various directives, and gathering the subsequent amendments that each of them had undergone with time, and also the three priority objectives in the action policy which relates to the financial market and consumer protection: (i) the convergence of contractual and non-contractual rules; (ii) the promotion of consumer confidence in the systems of trans-border dispute resolution and in payments on the Internet, (iii) closer cooperation among the Supervisory Authorities. In particular, the author focus his attention on the protection of consumers, and on the liability of administrative bodies.