Retail structured products and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are under the regulatory spotlight as never before, as initiatives at both domestic and international level seek to ensure that investors understand the products that they are buying. In the structured products space, providers have already been driven by regulation into simpler and more transparent pay-offs. In contrast, regulators lag behind market development on ETFs, and complexity is growing.
In April this year the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which acts under the guidance of the G-20 countries to coordinate action on global financial markets, highlighted the ETF boom as a cause for concern.
