EC official: supervisors must manage Brexit trading disruption

By Philip Alexander October 7, 2019, Risk A European Commission official has put the onus on supervisors to deal with any trading disruptions in the event of a no-deal Brexit – shutting down hopes of a legislative fix. Almoro...

ESMA considers expansion of MAR to include spot FX market

By Hayley McDowell October 3, 2019, The Trade European Union authorities are considering a move to bring foreign exchange spot trading in scope of the region’s Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). As part of a review of the regulatory framework,...

The rise of independent research outfits

By Scott Langley October 3, 2019, MoneyWeek Call it the sell-side’s Project Fear. Early 2018 saw the introduction of the E.U.’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). Thousands of pages of new rules governing the financial sector...

Research Unbundling a ‘Win-Win’ For Best Execution

By Shanny Basar October 7, 2019, Markets Media Rebecca Healey, global head of market structure at institutional liquidity pool Liquidnet, said research unbundling in the European Union has led to a changing role for execution as part of the...

ETF Insight: Structural issues will prevent Europe from ever matching U.S. ETF assets

By Tom Eckett October 7, ETF Stream Industry commentators have always been bullish about the prospects for ETF in Europe, however, there remain a number of structural issues that are preventing the vehicle from taking off in quite same...

ESMA faces busy investor protection agenda

By James Langton October 1, 2019, Investment Executive Europe’s securities regulator is preparing to take on greater investor protection responsibilities in the year ahead. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), today published its policy agenda for 2020, which...

ESMA calls for evidence on CFD and binary option restrictions

September 30, 2019, GlobalCapital The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued a call for evidence on the effects of product intervention measures regarding CFDs and binary options on market participants and clients. On Monday, ESMA also said it...

German government steps up criticism of MiFID II

By Alex Rolandi September 26, 2019, Funds Europe The wide-reaching MiFID II directive has come under further criticism from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF). At a conference in Brussels on Thursday, the ministry expressed its commitment to correcting...

How Europe’s pension sectors are preparing for Brexit

September 27, 2019, IPE With just over a month to go until the U.K. exits the European Union – at least, according to the government’s official plan at the time of writing – time is running out for organizations...

EMIR data can inform derivs trading strategies – ECB

By James Thursfield September 27, 2019, Global Investor Group Researchers at The European Central Bank (ECB) have outlined how European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) data can be used to inform derivatives trading strategies in futures markets and Euro market...

Asset managers wary of potential new regulatory reporting regime

By Jonathan Watkins September 19, 2019, The Trade Regulatory efforts to review the current regulatory reporting framework has European asset managers worried that it would result in potentially increased costs and a greater operational burden. The next European Commission...

FCA finds potential competition issues in MiFID II

By Rachel Mortimer September 20, 2019, FT Adviser The Financial Conduct Authority has acknowledged there may be “potential negative effects” on competition in the investment market as a result of the research unbundling rules introduced under MiFID II. MiFID...

FCA attacked by research houses over MiFID II reforms

By Siobhan Riding and Chris Flood September 19, 2019, Financial Times The Financial Conduct Authority has shelved its probe into unfair competition in the investment research market, drawing the ire of independent research houses which complain that they have...

PIMFA expresses concerns about complexity of MiFID costs and charges

By Jenna Lomax September 18, 2019, Asset Servicing Times The second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) should not provide any more detailed rules on call for evidence on inducements, costs and charges, according to the Personal Investment...

FCA urges advisers to record client meetings

By Rachel Addison September 19, 2019, FT Adviser The Financial Conduct Authority has urged advisers to consider recording client meetings to defend themselves against future complaints. The regulator said while recording client interactions was not a requirement under its...

FCA finds research unbundling has saved equity investors £70 million under MiFID II

By John Brazier September 19, 2019, The Trade The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released the findings of its survey on the effects of research unbundling on the U.K. financial services industry, most notably a cost saving of £70...

Managers hoping regulators tackle problems with MiFID II

By Paulina Pielchata September 16, 2019, Pensions&Investments Money managers and investment associations across Europe are weighing in on how MiFID II should be revised when it comes up for its first review in March, saying the regulation has fallen...

WFE warns ESMA of “irreparable damage” of market data price controls

September 10, 2019, Securities Finance Monitor The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, has published a letter in response to the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) consultation paper on prices for...

Europe’s fragmented equity markets need a tape of record

By Phillip Stafford September 12, 2019, Financial Times A good way to enliven a conversation with a top banker, fund manager or trader is to ask if they are happy with the cost of their market data: core information...

ETF Insight: Consolidated tape crucial to next stage of ETF growth in Europe

By Tom Eckett September 16, 2019, ETF Insight ETF liquidity visibility is improving all the time in Europe, however, investors are still unable to see the full liquidity picture on the ETFs they invest in. This is playing a...

FCA urges action on Connect platform deadline

By Rachel Mortimer September 16, 2019, FTAdviser The Financial Conduct Authority has urged firms to register to use its current notifications and applications platform by the beginning of next year. The Connect platform is used by the industry to...

Battle Erupts Between Traders, Exchanges Over Data Access Fees

By Viren Vaghela and Silla Brush September 9, 2019, Bloomberg Trading venues have clubbed together to attack the latest European effort to curb what they charge clients for data. The World Federation of Exchanges, which represents hundreds of trading...

Ticker tape of E.U. share prices would take years – regulator

By Huw Jones September 9, 2019, Reuters Building a ticker tape for European share prices would take years, the bloc’s securities market regulator has said, dashing hopes of banks and funds for speedy action to cut data costs. Market...

Industry Bodies: E.U. Consolidated Tape Needs Strong Governance by ESMA

By Josephine Gallagher September 6, 2019, Waters Technology Trade associations including the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the FIA European Principal Traders Association (FIA EPTA) have called for strong governance of a European consolidated tape (CT) in their...

Research unbundling crosses the Atlantic as U.S. asset managers embrace change

By John Brazier September 6, 2019, The Trade Research unbundling under MiFID II is becoming increasingly popular among large U.S. equities asset managers, according to a new report from consultancy TABB Group. In its latest research as part of...

Soc Gen reports “significant costs” from ISIN confusion

By James Thursfield September 6, 2019, Global Investor Group Societe Generale (SocGen) reveals that the lack of clarity surrounding the application of MiFID II product identifiers on derivative instruments is causing the French bank “significant operational costs”. Stephane Giordano...

German consultation positions FIRDS as potential golden source

By James Thursfield September 4, 2019, Global Investor Group The results of a German Ministry of Finance industry consultation, published last week, in response to amendments and revisions to MiFID II concludes that the Financial Instrument Reference Data System...

Five Minute Madness: How MiFID II Reporting Changed European Trading Patterns

By Adrian Whelan, Brown Brothers Harriman Originally published at the On the Regs blog In January 2018, one of the most ambitious and wide-ranging financial market regulatory reforms ever conceived was implemented: the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID...

Absence of trader ID disclosures leading to MiFID II reporting failure

By Rebekah Tunstead September 3, 2019, bobsguide Uncertainty regarding reference data – particularly the identification of individual traders or decision makers in transaction reporting – is preventing compliance with the second Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), according...

MiFID II: lack of consolidated tape makes traders more conservative

By Alice Tchernookova September 2, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR The lack of standardised, reliable data in Europe affects the attitude of traders, according to trading sources. The discussion on whether or not a consolidated tape should be in...