Article 9
Tasks related to consumer protection and financial activities
1.
The Authority shall take a leading role in promoting transparency, simplicity and fairness in the market for consumer financial products or services across the internal market, including by:
(a)
collecting, analysing and reporting on consumer trends, such as the development of costs and charges of retail financial services and products in Member States;
(aa)
undertaking in-depth thematic reviews of market conduct, building a common understanding of markets practices in order to identify potential problems and analyse their impact;
(ab)
developing retail risk indicators for the timely identification of potential causes of consumer and investor harm;
(b)
reviewing and coordinating financial literacy and education initiatives by the competent authorities;
(c)
developing training standards for the industry; and
(d)
contributing to the development of common disclosure rules;
(e)
contributing to a level playing field in the internal market where consumers and other users of financial services have fair access to financial services and products; and
(f)
coordinating mystery shopping activities of competent authorities, if applicable.
2.
The Authority shall monitor new and existing financial activities and may adopt guidelines and recommendations with a view to promoting the safety and soundness of markets, and convergence and effectiveness of regulatory and supervisory practices.
3.
The Authority may also issue warnings in the event that a financial activity poses a serious threat to the objectives laid down in Article 1(5).
4.
The Authority shall establish, as an integral part thereof, a Committee on consumer protection and financial innovation, which brings together all relevant competent authorities and authorities responsible for consumer protection with a view to enhancing consumer protection, achieving a coordinated approach to the regulatory and supervisory treatment of new or innovative financial activities, and providing advice for the Authority to present to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Commission. The Authority shall closely cooperate with the European Data Protection Board established by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (
10
) to avoid duplication, inconsistencies and legal uncertainty in the sphere of data protection. The Authority may also invite national data protection authorities as observers in the Committee.
5.
The Authority may temporarily prohibit or restrict the marketing, distribution or sale of certain financial products, instruments or activities that have the potential to cause significant financial damage to customers or consumers, or threaten the orderly functioning and integrity of financial markets or the stability of the whole or part of the financial system in the Union in the cases specified, and under the conditions laid down, in the legislative acts referred to in Article 1(2), or, if so required, in the case of an emergency situation in accordance with, and under the conditions laid down in, Article 18.
The Authority shall review the decision referred to in the first subparagraph at appropriate intervals and at least every six months. Following at least two consecutive renewals, and based on proper analysis which aims to assess the impact on the customer or consumer, the Authority may decide on the annual renewal of the prohibition.
A Member State may request the Authority to reconsider its decision. In that case, the Authority shall decide, in accordance with the procedure set out in the second subparagraph of Article 44(1), whether to maintain that decision.
The Authority may also assess the need to prohibit or restrict certain types of financial activity or practice and, where there is such a need, inform the Commission and the competent authorities in order to facilitate the adoption of any such prohibition or restriction.
( 10 ) Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).