Particularly in the wake of the global financial crisis, ensuring effective enforcement of the
rules governing the relationship between financial institutions and their (potential) clients
ranks high on the EU political agenda. Traditionally, such rules were enforced by civil courts
at the initiative of one of the parties through the means available within national private laws.
Over the past three decades or more, however, the EU and national legislators have tended
to resort to the state and its agencies in monitoring the financial institutions' compliance with …