18th July 2003
Implementation of the distance marketing of consumer financial services directive
Following the adoption, in September 2002 of Directive 2002/65/EC concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial Services (‘the DMD’), the Government, in July 2003 published its consultation document which concluded in October 2003 on implementing the DMD.
This paper sets out the Governments response to the consultation and final DMD Regulations.
The DMD sets common standards for the information that must be given to consumers of financial services prior to a contract being concluded at a distance. These only apply where the supplier makes exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication (e.g. telephone, internet, fax or mail). There are provisions for rights of withdrawal (“cancellation rights”) in many circumstances.
For the purposes of the DMD, a financial service encompasses any “service of a banking, credit, insurance, personal pension, investment or payment nature”. This is broad and covers most financial services that the ordinary consumer is likely to buy.
The consultation document is available below in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website. For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.
PDF file of the Distance marketing of consumer financial services directive (268KB)
PDF file of the Summary of consultation feedback and government response (695KB)
Related links
Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004 (HMSO website)