Financial Standard Products : Study into the Effects of Standard Products on Competition in the Financial Sector

The Authority for Consumers & Markets has conducted a study into the potential effects of standard products on competition in the financial sector. The analysis shows that it is not likely that standard products will increase competition in financial markets. There is a risk that providers decide, independently from each other, to minimize the sales of the standard product. Also other relevant market failures do not appear to reduce directly (information asymmetry, externalities, and non-rational choice behavior). Therefore, ACM recommends to focus on measures that are directly aimed at resolving market failures and that do not disrupt the the process of consumer choice behavior