(News Bulletin 247) – To improve the attractiveness of the stock savings plan, the AMF proposes to facilitate their transfer between financial institutions and to reduce the delays.

The Financial Markets Authority (AMF) published Wednesday its proposals to improve the equity savings plan (PEA), a savings product very popular with individual investors, who however encounter some difficulties in their management.

PEAs are now the first subject dealt with by the AMF mediator, who can be contacted to find an amicable solution in dispute situations. According to the Banque de France, the number of PEAs, which offer an advantageous tax regime, stood at 5.2 million at the end of 2022, for an outstanding amount of more than 100 billion euros.

After several months of reflection, the AMF, through a working group chaired by Jacqueline Eli-Namer, member of the College of the stock market policeman, proposes to “reduce the time required for transferring PEAs between establishments, making the transfer process less complex , reduce the time during which a client cannot carry out “purchase or sale of securities, according to a press release published on Wednesday.

Too long transfer times

The requests received by the AMF mediator, in 2021, related to the PEA, concerned in almost two thirds of the cases the transfer times between two establishments, which can reach “3, 6, 9 or even 12 months”, according to the latest report, published in April 2022, by the AMF mediator. He regretted “the ignorance in which customers find themselves during the period of transfer of their PEA”, in particular on their ability or not to be able to buy and sell financial securities.

The AMF also recommends “strengthening customer information”, in particular on the different stages, the steps to be taken and the potential difficulties in transferring their PEA to another financial institution. Finally, it would be necessary “to indicate to the heirs, following the death of the holder of a PEA, the tax and legal consequences of the situation”.

Goal of more than 80% PEA transfers in less than a month

The working group also looked into “a right of rectification” which would be “strictly framed in time, in the event of an error in execution, by the holder of the plan or the establishment, having led to the involuntary closure of the PEA”. For example, with Brexit, the securities of British companies are no longer eligible and had to be sold or transferred to another account, under penalty of seeing the PEA automatically closed.

The AMF college will make an annual update to monitor the progress made by financial players in the Paris marketplace, with the particular objective of “carrying out more than 80% of PEA transfers between marketplace institutions in less than a month” .

(With AFP)