ESMA eases MiFID II best execution reporting requirements

By Hayley McDowell April 1, 2020, The Trade E.U. authorities have moved to ease major reporting requirements under MiFID II as firms continue to battle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic across Europe. The European Securities and Markets Authority...

Leveling up

By Chris Hall March 30, 2020, The Trade It was 2010 when electronic trading first hit the headlines. Trade automation was hardly new. Technology-driven innovations had been accommodated in the U.S. and Europe under Reg NMS and MiFID respectively....

EMIR reporting: new guidelines are good but need wider takeup

By Alice Tchernookova March 26, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR Seven industry bodies have joined forces to publish enhanced guidelines on reporting obligations under the European market infrastructure regulation (EMIR). Although these should help improve market practice, some think...

At least 70% of DFM clients hit with MiFID II 10% drop letters

By James Fitzgerald March 25, 2020, New Model Advisor One platform has seen over 17,500 clients invested in managed portfolios receive 10% drop letters this quarter, New Model Adviser has learned. Under MiFID II regulations, clients with money managed...

Warning sounded on ‘out of context’ MiFID II letters

By Rachel Mortimer March 29, 2020, FTAdviser Advice firm Tilney has warned against advisers “going into hibernation” during the current market turmoil and sending 10% drop letters to clients without context. As the spreading coronavirus pandemic has taken its...

Reviving research in an unbundled world

By David Whitehouse March 23, 2020, The Trade A recent move by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) in France to create a virtual marketplace to improve the quality of financial research has drawn short shift from investors just...

E.U. tells traders working from home: take notes if you can’t record calls

By Huw Jones March 20, 2020, Reuters The European Union’s markets watchdog has told stock and bond traders working offsite because the coronavirus has shut their trading floors to take notes if they can’t record telephone conversations with customers....

PFS warns of MiFID ‘workload pressure’ under coronavirus

By Rachel Mortimer March 18, 2020, FTAdviser The Personal Finance Society is preparing to help its members navigate a coronavirus lockdown as its warns the 10 per cent reporting rule under MiFID II is adding to “workload pressure and...

ESMA extends regulatory response dates

By Perle Battistella March 23, 2020, Global Investor Group The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will extend the response date from market participants for ongoing consultations, the regulator said in an announcement on March 20. The response dates...

E.U. watchdog to nudge bond trades closer to real-time transparency

By Huw Jones March 10, 2020, Reuters The European Union’s markets watchdog has proposed making it harder for traders to obtain “waivers” from transparency rules for bonds. The bloc’s MiFID II securities rules introduced just over two years ago...

MiFID II: IRPs and small banks express fear and hope for research pricing’s future

By Hugo Bromley March 11, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR Independent research providers (IRPs) are hopeful that changes to MiFID II will better-support their industry but are sceptical that promises will be matched with action. “I think we will...

Spot FX could be dragged into MiFID II

By Rebekah Tunstead March 12, 2020, Risk The European Commission is looking to Australia as it considers pulling spot foreign exchange into MiFID II, the regime that exists for equities, bonds and derivatives – a radical change that industry...

Advisers take MiFID disclosure ‘nightmare’ into own hands

By Imogen Tew March 12, 2020, FTAdviser More than a quarter of advisers do not trust the costs and charges disclosure statements provided by their platforms and instead spend hours compiling their own document, research has shown. Data from...

FCA to review pricing of market data

By Philip Stafford March 9, 2020, Financial Times U.K. markets regulators are to review whether stock exchanges and trading venues are charging their customers a fair price for market data, as those who control the valuable information come under...

FCA consults on MiFID II tick size changes

By Wendy Lisney March 9, 2020, Global Investor Group The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking feedback on proposed amendments to the tick size regime under MiFID II. The regime is set to be changed under the European Union’s...

FCA to review trading data costs

By Hayley McDowell March 9, 2020, The Trade The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has responded to feedback from market participants stating that trading venues face little competition over market data, which allows them to increase prices of vital trading...

Legal experts consider MiFID II review amid Brexit

By Luke Jeffs March 5, 2020, Global Investor Group Regulatory experts have expressed concerns about the review of the MiFID II regulation taking without the U.K., one of the driving forces behind the original rules. Speaking at the...

U.K. may not adopt CSDR buy-in regime post-Brexit

By Jon Watkins March 6, 2020, The Trade The U.K. may decide not to adopt the buy-in regime under the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) following it’s exit from the European Union, industry experts have said. Considered to be...

Swap Data Proposals Raise Existential Questions

By Joanna Wright March 4, 2020, WatersTechnology How do regulators actually put to good use the vast amounts of data they collect from financial firms? This is a perennial question in the post-crisis era. And it’s a fair one...

Is MiFID II really to blame for SME research dip?

By Hugo Bromley March 2, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR The European Commission’s proposal that SME research be exempted from MiFID II’s unbundling requirements is welcome but unlikely to have any significant impact – in...

PROD rules in the spotlight of MiFID II review

By Imogen Tew February 26, 2020, FT Adviser The European Commission is probing the effectiveness of the product governance rules introduced to the industry in 2018 in its latest consultation on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. In a...

MiFID II: Venues Targeted by ESMA Enjoy Strong Start to Year

By Tim Cave, TABB Group Originally published on the TABB Forum European equity trading started 2020 on a strong note, and many of the venues that ESMA has indicated it wants to curb continued to grow, adding intrigue to...

Top City bosses reject post-Brexit ‘Singapore on Thames’

By Matthew Vincent and Jim Brunsden February 26, 2020, Financial Times Senior City of London figures told parliament the U.K. should have some flexibility to create its own rules after Brexit, but rejected a regulatory “race to the bottom”...

Regulators split on whether MiFID II unbundling rules are an issue

By Sophie Baker February 24, 2020, Pensions&Investments Although Europe’s highest ruling authority sees problems in the area of small- and midsize company research, in part due to 2018 trading rules, not all financial watchdogs are in agreement. The European...

MiFID II unbundling review raises concerns

By Sophie Baker February 24, 2020, Pensions&Investments Just when money managers across the globe thought they had dealt with European trading rules, new suggestions to alleviate a perceived decline in smaller company research and investment are threatening to cause...

FCA sets trading venues March deadline to meet MiFID II data rules

By Samuel Agini February 24, 2020, Financial News The City watchdog has given London’s trading venues a hard deadline to make information on stock trades free to the public, as regulators continue to battle over the cost and accessibility...

Industry concerned by MiFIR dark trading proposal

By Hugo Bromley February 20, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR The European securities regulator has launched a consultation on a range of changes to MiFIR to reduce the use of dark pools, but the reforms, and MiFIR more broadly,...

New MiFID equivalence rules leave U.K. firms in limbo

By Samuel Wilkes February 19, 2020, Risk The ability of U.K. investment firms to trade with European Union entities following Brexit is under new doubt as updated equivalence rules are not due to take effect until six months after...

Europe launches review of giant MiFID II trading rulebook

By Samuel Agini and Fareed Sahloul February 17, 2020, Financial News The European Commission has kicked off a review of its giant rulebook for trading financial products, with a number of its key principles having struggled to take hold...

MiFID II review aims to boost euro trading in commodity derivatives

By Philip Stafford February 17, 2020, Financial Times Europe is considering relaxing its rules on the trading of commodity derivatives, in order to reduce its dependence on oil benchmarks priced in U.S. dollars while boosting euro-area trading of alternatives...