The centre-left political group in the European Parliament, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), are leading a proposal to reject the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) Quick Fix in tomorrow’s vote in the European Parliament’s full plenary.
Based on the S&D's latest press release on the matter, Finnish MEP and S&D negotiator on the MiFID Quick-Fix Eero Heinäluoma said: “Instead of supporting SMEs thirsting for liquidity, this MiFID Quick Fix uses the Covid-19 crisis as a cover to deregulate financial markets. The fingerprints of the EPP are all over this proposal to relax stricter rules put in place as lessons learnt after the last financial crisis. Even a number of transparency requirements and position limits in the derivatives market would be removed under this proposal. No investor association, no NGO, no think tank has spoken out in support of these counter-productive measures."
“We call on the Commission to put forward an ambitious and balanced reform of the MiFID rules by mid-2021 after full consultation of all stakeholders and based on a serious impact assessment that will protect investors and help SMEs.”
Spanish MEP and S&D spokesperson for economic and monetary affairs Jonás Fernández added:“Since the Covid-19 crisis hit households and companies hard, we the Socialists and Democrats have acted decisively to support workers and SMEs, who are struggling to raise capital. We have led the drive for the EU Recovery Fund, and welcome the EIB’s €25 billion Pan-European Guarantee Fund to support SMEs.
To speed up the recovery, we must put measures in place that improve access to investments for SMEs, protect investors and guarantee full price transparency. This MiFID proposal fails on all three fronts."
Click here to access S&D full press release, available on their website.