Member States shall ensure that, for the purposes of identifying
the types of conflict of interest that arise in the course of
providing investment and ancillary services or a combination
thereof and whose existence may damage the interests of a client,
investment firms take into account, by way of minimum criteria,
the question of whether the investment firm or a relevant person,
or a person directly or indirectly linked by control to the firm, is
in any of the following situations, whether as a result of
providing investment or ancillary services or investment
activities or otherwise:
(a) the firm or that person is likely to make a financial gain, or
avoid a financial loss, at the expense of the client;
(b) the firm or that person has an interest in the outcome of a
service provided to the client or of a transaction carried out
on behalf of the client, which is distinct from the client's
interest in that outcome;
(c) the firm or that person has a financial or other incentive to
favour the interest of another client or group of clients over
the interests of the client;
(d) the firm or that person carries on the same business as the
client;
(e) the firm or that person receives or will receive from a
person other than the client an inducement in relation to a
service provided to the client, in the form of monies, goods
or services, other than the standard commission or fee for
that service.