Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said on Friday the number of financial consumer complaints filed in the first half of 2016 with European National Competent Authorities (NCAs) has grown to 7,026, or up by 36.4% from the previous six months.
Meanwhile, complaints concerning investment advice services have been posting a drop in recent years, the regulator noted.
The highest share of financial complaints in the January-June period, or 31%, were related to execution of orders. Another 19% were regarding the quality or lack of information and 15% of the complaints were against unauthorized businesses.
In H1, Europeans complained mostly from bonds and other debt securities (20%), followed by shares, stock and equity (17%), options, futures and swaps (17%), as well as financial contracts for difference (CFDs) (15%).
The ESMA is an independent EU authority that directly supervises and safeguards the EU financial markets. It has established a single rulebook for EU financial markets and promotes the convergence of the regulatory bodies of EU countries. In addition, it also assesses risks to investors, markets and financial stability.
