MiFID
MiFID II
On 20 October, the European Commission published a proposal for the recast of MiFID (MiFID II).
According to MiFID, introduced in 2007, financial intermediaries who give investment advice are acting as investment firms and therefore have to comply with a set of conduct rules. The current proposal introduces new conduct of business rules for financial intermediaries when providing investment advice with regard to remuneration, information, professional knowledge and adherence to an investor compensation scheme. The reasons of the Commission to recast MiFID are the scale of technological progress and the magnitude of financial innovation. The recast has 4 key objectives: responsible financial players, adequate levels of transparency in all markets of financial instruments, rules for fair competition, and restoration of trust of economic players in the markets and financial intermediaries. The new requirements aim at further strengthening the protection of the investor throughout the EU.
BIPAR views on the proposal for a recast of the Directive on markets in financial instruments (MiFID II).
MiFID
The Directive on Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFID) aims at both making it easier for investment firms to carry out cross-border business and at enhancing consumer protection. This text, which was adopted in April 2004, concerns many practitioners affiliated to BIPAR via their national associations as it also concerns investment firms providing investment advice only, such as independent financial advisors (IFAs) and insurance intermediaries. The text introduces new requirements for investment intermediaries with regard to firms’ conduct of business and internal organisations and will allow them to operate throughout the EU on the basis of authorisation in their home Member State. However, Member States are allowed to exempt small to medium-sized investment intermediaries who do not hold client money or trade cross border from the scope of MiFID.
The European Commission launched a consultation on the review of MiFID from 8 December 2010 to 2 February 2011.
The purpose of this public consultation was to consult market participants, regulators and other stakeholders on possible changes to the regulatory framework established by MiFID in the field of investment services and activities as well as markets in financial instruments.
After consulting its member associations, BIPAR submitted its response to the Commission’s consultation.
