The government of the German state (”Bundesland”) Baden Württemberg has started an initiative to force banks to disclose all kickbacks and commissions. The minister for consumer protection Peter Hauk (a member of the conservative CDU) said that he will soon bring this new regulation to the Bundesrat (the parliamentary chamber that represents the German states). The Minister encouraged the banks to support the new law because more transparency for banking clients will in the long-run strengthen the international competitiveness of the German banking industry.

The initiative is a logical next step after the new MIFID regulation has already compelled banks to keep written minutes of all client meetings detailing the recommendations that were made to the client. MyPrivateBanking research analysts expect that in the long run the reception of  kickbacks by banks and wealth managers will get completely banned.

Wealth management and private banking services have one of the most intransparent pricing policies one can imagine. In spite of the large sums of money changing hands (respectively accounts) you hardly will find any price list, fee comparisons or info on rooms for negotiations. In fact the wealth managers of this world work hard to keep it not transparent: They make prices look like small, insignificant numbers; position themselves as adviser and not sales man; do not disclose the hidden costs of a client´s  portfolio and make sure clients do not talk much to each other about their fees. Or have you ever seen a client forum on a wealth manager´s website?

Time to speak up! Tell us how much you pay for your wealth management, if you could negotiate the fees and if your adviser disclosed the kickbacks he generates from your portfolio. Please participate in our survey about your costs of wealth management!

Our survey is anonymous, takes a couple of minutes and of course you will receive an exclusive report on the results for free. Find out what other pay and let´s work together on taking out the hot, expensive air in the wealth management market and getting down to facts and figures. Click here to start survey.