Concern that over one third of financial services are unsure if they are MiFID II compliant
What is MiFID II?
MiFID II is an EU Directive which comes into force January 3rd 2018. Its purpose is to offer greater protection for investors and create greater transparency in all asset classes: from equities to fixed income, exchange traded funds and foreign exchange.
How will it affect investment decisions?
The legislation will change how Asset Managers pay for the research they use to make investment decisions. Prior to the Directive, Asset Managers received research for free, although the cost of this service was paid into trading fees. This is generally is paid by Fund Managers’ clients. In a process called unbundling, under MiFID II Fund Managers will have to budget separately for research and trading costs.
Concern over compliance with the Directive
A recent survey, conducted by managed cloud service provider Timico, found 39% of UK financial firms are not sure whether their organisation is compliant with the new regulations, while just 8% of companies said their employees were fully aware of MiFID II’s legal implications and had received relevant training.
MiFID II also places strict controls on all communications; regulated firms will be obliged to document all communications that are intended to result in a transaction.
However, Timico found 42% of respondents said their firms do not currently have a mobile compliant platform in place to record calls, 25% said they are not yet compliant with recording requirements and 29% are still going through the compliance process.
Penalty for failing to adhere to MiFID II
Companies can be fined up to 5m Euros, or 10% of annual turnover, for non-compliance.
