PRIIPs is an abbreviation for Packages Retail Investment and Insurance Products. It is a term created by EU legislators as a “catch-all” for investment and insurance products that bring together different investments. These “products” are then sold to retail investors.
PRIIPs legislation is being implemented across the EU and requires that every “manufacturer” of a PRIIP (essentially the investment manager of an open-ended fund and maybe the Board of a closed-ended fund) produces a KID. These KIDs have to be drawn up in accordance with strict guidelines, published on their websites, made available free of charge to the investor before they conclude any transaction in the PRIIP, and updated regularly. The manufacturer also has to have a complaints procedure to handle customers comments on the PRIIP.
The legislation was passed in 2014 and comes into force in 2016. In classic EU style, the detail of how the law works in practice is thrashed out after the legislation is passed so it is not clear yet what the impact will be.