We often take advice for some of the most important financial decisions in our lives like buying a house, planning for retirement or investing savings. The problem is that this advice is too often biased and not in the consumer’s interest and can have disastrous consequences. 

Today we launch a web map The Price of Bad Advice which provides a snapshot of the major mis-selling scandals to have affected consumers across Europe in the last twenty years. The map shows the problem is a European one with most countries affected. 

We’re calling on EU decision-makers to pay attention to this trend and take action. We provide a series of policy recommendations which include a ban on commissions for investment and complex financial products. We also call for people who advise consumers to have minimum professional requirements and a strengthened enforcement culture by both national and EU authorities. 

The map is a long-term project which will be edited as details of new mis-selling scandals emerge. We are also publishing three video testimonials (a story from Belgium | a story from Spain | a story from Lithuania) of consumers who were mis-sold a product which had had catastrophic consequences.