The Financial Services Consumer Panel has expressed concern that today's announcement of a new European advisory panel to represent the interests of "market participants" has no real consumer representation on it.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) has today announced the setting up of its CESR Market Participant Consultative Panel to advise on the preparation of EU directives for the harmonisation of regulation in the Single Market for Financial Services. Its membership of 11 people is drawn mainly from the securities industry. Two people from shareholder bodies have been included, but there will be no representation for ordinary consumers with savings in packaged investment products.

The UK's Consumer Panel is pressing CESR to establish a separate European committee to represent consumers' interests in securities regulation at European level. This would then mirror the current structure in UK financial services regulation, where the FSA has to take note of the views of both its independent advisory panels, the Consumer Panel and the Practitioner Panel.

Colin Brown, Chairman of the Financial Services Consumer Panel said: "European regulation of financial services must incorporate the needs of all consumers, as well as the industry. This was a great opportunity to do something more for consumers, and it has been missed. European directives will have an increasing impact on UK regulation, and it is vital that consumers are represented.

We have written to CESR and to the FSA as the UK's representative to express our concern, and will continue to lobby on this issue."

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Notes to editors