On the day it becomes directly applicable, the long-awaited revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) gives birth to a new and healthier environment for financial services and instruments across the Single Market. Although only 11 out of 28 Member States have implemented the Directive so far, the past two years have been a race for investment firms, credit institutions, market operators and other obliged entities to align their businesses with the new requirements imposed by MiFID II.
In short, MiFID II is set to create ‘an integrated financial market in which investors are effectively protected and the efficiency and integrity of the overall market are safeguarded’ (Recital 164 thereof), and impose more stringent rules to:
- transform dark pools into regulated markets (see BETTER FINANCE article here);
- improve impartiality of investment research (see article here);
- enhance data reporting (see article here);
- impose non-discriminatory rules for admission of financial instruments (see article here);
- increase cost transparency for customers (see article here);
- limit speculation on commodity derivatives markets (see article here).
A myriad of new requirements are imposed from today onwards, necessitating a lot of effort from concerned companies in order to meet the deadlines. However, in the words of Burton, ‘meeting the deadline does not mean the work is over’, in the sense that financial professionals must continue to adapt to the new regulatory framework (see article here).
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