EC speaker for Malta Consumer Protection in Financial Services conference

Thierry Vissol, who heads the financial services unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General on Consumer Protection, will be in Malta on 3 May to address a conference on ‘Consumer Protection in Financial Services’, which is being held in collaboration with the Malta Financial Services Centre. The conference will take place at Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar.

Mr Vissol is responsible for the follow-up on consumer policy in financial services, with particular focus on banks and insurance. He also holds responsibility for the follow-up on consumers’ changeover to the Euro, for electronic commerce, banking and the financial aspects of distance selling.

Mr Vissol joined the European Commission in 1980, after graduating as a doctor of economic sciences from the University of Limoges. His previous positions within the Commission have involved him in preparation for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), strengthening of the Basle Nyborg Agreement, monitoring of the ‘Ecu’ markets, preparation of the Maastricht Treaty (Delors group, Guigou group), contribution to the definition of the Euro coins, preparation of the European Commission Green Paper on the changeover to the single currency and related euro legislation.

In the recent changeover to the Euro, Mr Vissol chaired the negotiation between consumers’ representatives and the distribution sector, and developed the information programme The Euro Made Easy.

Mr Vissol is the author of numerous books and articles on economic history, social history, industrial archaeology and history of art, monetary and international economy, EMS, the Euro, and European Monetary Union. His most recent book is ‘The Euro - Consequences for Consumers and Citizens’.

The conference on Consumer Protection in Financial Services is tailor-made for the providers of financial services in Malta: bankers, insurance agencies, stockbrokers, and financial intermediaries. The programme has been developed in consultation with the Malta Financial Services Centre. For details and/or reservations, please call 21-220270 or e-mail [email protected]