The objective of the study is to:

— Map the most suitable existing and emerging solutions of online tools and services supporting retail investors in investment decisions in the EU and worldwide and assess their risks and opportunities from a consumer perspective,

— Propose options for non-legislative initiatives at the EU level and provide their assessment,

— Identify a preferred option(s) and provide a project description for its implementation,

The study should consider options to support (further) development of private or public initiatives (e.g. on-line calculators, public databases, private-public initiatives).

The contractor is requested to carry out the following tasks and provide the following:

(1) Carry out a mapping and an analysis of existing or emerging solutions supporting retail investors in selecting investment products, in particular:

a) Describe the tools and services in the European Union and worldwide that help investors overcome the challenges they encounter when searching and comparing retail investment products and describe the risks and the opportunities for consumers using these tools;

b) Identify European or international practices that could be taken as an example, or as a starting point to be developed into an EU wide tool or service;

c) Identify the shortcomings of existing solutions; in particular describe how a potential conflict of interest stemming from financing models is (or is not) addressed.

(2) Propose at least 3 options for non-legislative initiatives at EU level and their assessment;

The description of the proposed options should include at least the following:

a) Value added of the proposed option for all the stakeholders concerned;

b) Impact on existing market and stakeholders;

c) Synergies and interoperability with existing tools and services;

d) Form and technical set-up that it might take e.g. an on-line platform, website, application;

e) Data collection, storage and consolidation process, including the role and responsibility of players involved;

f) How presentation of complete, fair and easy to understand results will be ensured;

g) Key stakeholders responsible for development and operations;

h) Financial needs and their sources, specifically need for public funding at national or EU levels and their form;

i) Describe whether it can be implemented in the EU within the existing legal and regulatory framework or which changes in EU law would be required;

j) Other legal, regulatory and technical constraints to be resolved.

These options should be compared to a "business as usual scenario" i.e. an organic development of the market for data consolidation led by commercial entities. The "business as usual scenario" should specifically take into account that there are already private initiatives which provide specialist information and analytical services for their clients.

(3) Propose a path for implementation of the preferred option(s), in particular:

a) Identify the preferred option and explain the reasoning;

b) Provide a Project Description that should inter alia specify: the overview of the project, its objectives, benefits, implementation method, timeline, requirements, estimated financial resources and their form and expected outcomes.