The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published translations of its Guidelines on complex debt instruments and structured deposits.
The purpose of these Guidelines is to ensure a common, uniform and consistent application of these definitions, in particular to specify the criteria for the assessment of (i) debt instruments incorporating a structure which makes it difficult for the client to understand the risk involved and (ii) structured deposits incorporating a structure which makes it difficult for the client to understand the risk of return or the cost of exiting the product before term.
The ESMA statement and the translations into 22 EU languages can be found here.