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US, HK and OZ join the MIFID 2 circle of trust

In another last-minute MiFID 2 fix, the EC yesterday adopted decisions recognising the equivalent status of securities exchanges in Australia, Hong Kong and the US. “It is important that European firms can trade shares on international markets. Access to major international trading venues will boost the EU’s competitive position as a financial center,” the EU executive’s vice […]

FCA issues FFX outlook- fog confirmed

The FCA have today issued their response to the ESAs 24 November FFX announcement. It is brief and is worth reading in full as a masterclass in ironic prevarication and understatement. Highlights below (emboldening is ours): “The amendments to the RTS should become increasingly clear over time and we would expect firms to make their […]

All Change Please!! First Look at New EBA Investment Firm Prudential Framework

Introduction On 29 September 2017, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published an opinion on the design of a new prudential framework for investment firms. The new regime will apply to all MiFID firms, including those that will be brought into scope by MiFID II. The EBA makes a total of 62 recommendations in the following […]

SEFs+DCMs=MTFs+OTFs

The transatlantic trading platform cousins have officially been recognised as twins, on 5 November the European Commission announced its long-promised equivalence decision in respect of U.S. swap execution facilities. The CFTC plans to reciprocate by exempting MTFs and OTFs from U.S. registration requirements. The mutual recognition comes just in time before the 3 January 2018 […]

IMminent- the other elephant in the room

With a scant 28 days until the MiFID 2 starting gun sounds, Regulatory Change managers could be forgiven for looking forward to a well-deserved rest. In reality, 3 January 2018 will actually represent the beginning of a long process of clarification, refinement and final implementation. In this slightly dispiriting context, it is not surprising that […]

MiFID II Update: Trading Obligation to Commence ‘Early’ in 2018

Introduction On 28 September 2017, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) submitted its final report containing draft Regulatory Technical Standards (“RTS”) on the trading obligation for derivatives under MiFIR with respect to interest rate swaps (“IRS”) and credit default swaps (“CDS”) to the European Commission (“EC”).  The EC has three months to decide whether […]

European Parliament grudgingly approves MiFID II delay

As expected, the European Parliament yesterday approved the inaptly-titled MiFID II “quick fix”, ratifying the one year delay in its application date. The ECON committee used the opportunity to vote for the following specific amendments: a particular transparency regime for packaged transactions, a clarification of the own account exemption and the exemption of securities financing […]

MiFID 2 delay official

To the surprise of no-one, the European Commission has today proposed a one year extension to the application date of MiFID 2. The new deadline is 3 January 2018. Commissioner Jonathan Hill said, “Given the complexity of the technical challenges highlighted by ESMA, it makes sense to extend the deadline for MiFID II. We will […]

Another day – another MiFID 2 delay

To the surprise of no-one but the terminally optimistic, ESMA chair Steven Maijoor has indicated that the requested one year delay to MiFID 2 may not be sufficient. In conversation with Reuters at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, Mr Maijoor underlined that the MiFID 2 ball is in the politician’s court: “I am […]

MiFID II cross-selling final report

ESMA has published a final report containing guidelines on cross-selling practices under MiFID II. The final report follows the 22 December 2014 consultation paper (JC/CP.2014/05) issued by the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities. Article 24(11) MiFID II requires ESMA, in cooperation with the EBA and EIOPA, to create guidelines for the supervision and […]

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