CHAPTER IIIOPERATING CONDITIONS FOR INVESTMENT FIRMS
SECTION 2Information to clients and potential clients
Article 30(first indent of Article 19(3) of Directive 2004/39/EC)Information about the investment firm and its services for retail clients and potential retail clients
1.
Member States shall require investment firms to provide retail clients or potential retail clients with the following general information, where relevant:
(a)
the name and address of the investment firm, and the contact details necessary to enable clients to communicate effectively with the firm;
(b)
the languages in which the client may communicate with the investment firm, and receive documents and other information from the firm;
(c)
the methods of communication to be used between the investment firm and the client including, where relevant, those for the sending and reception of orders;
(d)
a statement of the fact that the investment firm is authorised and the name and contact address of the competent authority that has authorised it;
(e)
where the investment firm is acting through a tied agent, a statement of this fact specifying the Member State in which that agent is registered;
(f)
the nature, frequency and timing of the reports on the performance of the service to be provided by the investment firm to the client in accordance with Article 19(8) of Directive 2004/39/EC;
(g)
if the investment firm holds client financial instruments or client funds, a summary description of the steps which it takes to ensure their protection, including summary details of any relevant investor compensation or deposit guarantee scheme which applies to the firm by virtue of its activities in a Member State;
(h)
a description, which may be provided in summary form, of the conflicts of interest policy maintained by the firm in accordance with Article 22;
(i)
at any time that the client requests it, further details of that conflicts of interest policy in a durable medium or by means of a website (where that does not constitute a durable medium) provided that the conditions specified in Article 3(2) are satisfied.
2.
Member States shall ensure that, when providing the service of portfolio management, investment firms establish an appropriate method of evaluation and comparison such as a meaningful benchmark, based on the investment objectives of the client and the types of financial instruments included in the client portfolio, so as to enable the client for whom the service is provided to assess the firm's performance.
3.
Member States shall require that where investment firms propose to provide portfolio management services to a retail client or potential retail client, they provide the client, in addition to the information required under paragraph 1, with such of the following information as is applicable:
(a)
information on the method and frequency of valuation of the financial instruments in the client portfolio;
(b)
details of any delegation of the discretionary management of all or part of the financial instruments or funds in the client portfolio;
(c)
a specification of any benchmark against which the performance of the client portfolio will be compared;
(d)
the types of financial instrument that may be included in the client portfolio and types of transaction that may be carried out in such instruments, including any limits;
(e)
the management objectives, the level of risk to be reflected in the manager's exercise of discretion, and any specific constraints on that discretion.