Eight Financial Planning bodies across Europe, including the CISI, have backed “fintech-enabled Financial Planning”.

FPSB Europe said the combined view of its organisations was that it can be “the process of providing human-led financial advice in a digitally-powered way.”

The organisation, representing FPSB, the global standards-setting body for financial planning and owner of the international Certified Financial Planner certification program outside the US, was responding to an EU consultation.

The response also drew upon information from FPSB’s 2016 Fintech and the Future of Financial Planning report, which includes research findings and insights from more than 1,700 CFP professionals in 29 territories around the world, as well as from FPSB member organisations in 26 territories.

Noel Maye, FPSB CEO, said: “Many Financial Planners told us that they have already begun to embrace fintech as a complement to their practices.

“Our discussions since have led us to see fintech-enabled financial planning as the process of providing human-led financial advice in a digitally-powered way.”

FPSB Europe told the EU commission that fintech tools should be “held to the same regulatory standard as human advisers”.

Its report said: “Financial planners and advisers who use fintech tools should be able to understand how the technology works, its strengths and limitations, and what appropriate controls and process should be in place to ensure suitable client outcomes.”

FPSB Europe called upon regulators to consider restricting the use of client data, once gathered for the specific purpose requested, and insist that clients be informed about any potential consequences of submitting their data.

The body said that allowing data aggregators access to clients’ full portfolios - with the correct permissions - could be of “great assistance to consumers, who would be able to see their entire financial picture in a dashboard format, and to holistic financial planners, who take into account all aspects of a client’s financial holdings”.

The principle of protecting clients’ best interests should be emphasised by the EU, it added.

Marc van Poeteren, chairperson of FPSB Europe and chairman of Federatie Financieel Planners in The Netherlands, said: “FPSB Europe believes that fintech could have a profound effect on the way consumers access financial advice, as well as on Financial Planning practitioners’ efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.

“Although it is still in an early stage, fintech – properly applied and regulated – could make a positive difference in the financial lives of all Europeans.”

The eight bodies involved in the report were:

• Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (United Kingdom)
• Österreichischer Verband Financial Planners (Austria)
• Association Francaise des Conseils en Gestion de Patrimoine Certifiés (France)
• Financial Planning Standards Board Deutschland (Germany)
• Financial Planning Standards Board Ireland
• Federatie Financieel Planners (The Netherlands)
• Swiss Financial Planners Organization (Switzerland)
• Finansal Planlama Derneği (Turkey)