MiFID II: small U.S. asset managers struggle with research unbundling costs

By John Crabb June 24, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR The provisions contained within MiFID II that require investment firms to make explicit payments rather than bundling payment for broker research with trade execution puts small and mid-sized firms...

Rising costs and lower returns hit U.S. and European fund houses

By Chris Flood June 24, 2019, Financial Times Traditional asset managers in western Europe and North America were hit by weaker profits last year as rising costs and stock market losses damaged earnings. More problems lie ahead as the...

MiFID adds 20 minutes to client meetings

By Rachel Addison June 18, 2019, FT Adviser The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive is estimated to have added 20 minutes of administrative time to each client meeting, according to the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. MiFID II...

SEC Points Toward Market Solutions in the U.S. to Resolve MIFID II Conflict

By Amrish Ganatra, Commcise Software Limited Originally published by Integrity Research Associates and on the TABB FORUM With the SEC actively reviewing whether to allow its MIFID II-oriented no-action letter to lapse, asset managers in the U.S. and Europe...

ESMA’s Final Verdict: Europe’s Periodic Auctions Breathe Sigh of Relief

By Tim Cave, TABB Group Originally published on the TABB FORUM In issuing its hotly anticipated report into periodic auctions, the European Securities and Markets Authority stopped short of an outright ban or hard limits over the venues. But...

MiFID II periodic auctions survive intense regulatory scrutiny

By Hayley McDowell June 14, 2019, The Trade Periodic auctions operating in the new trading environment under MiFID II will not be significantly constrained or banned outright by authorities in Europe after months of scrutiny. The European Securities and...

ESMA prepares guidelines for MiFID II share auctions

By Samuel Agini June 13, 2019, Financial News Europe’s financial regulator has given no indication that it intends to introduce draconian restrictions on a popular trading method that has come under fire for allegedly undermining stock market transparency rules....

Consolidated tape post-Brexit could create competition, costs

By Louisa Chender June 12, 2019, Global Investor Group The need for a consolidated tape in Europe is compelling but amid certain issues that have stifled developments so far, Brexit poses a further complication. MiFID II sets out requirements...

Position limits saga a “constant concern” – Stump

By Louisa Chender June 12, 2019, Global Investor Group CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump is not expecting participants to be happy with rules on position limits once the seemingly never-ending saga creating ongoing uncertainly and concern finally comes to an...

The Incumbents Strike Back: MiFID II in May

By Tim Cave, TABB Group Originally published on the TABB FORUM Lit venues in Europe’s equity market hit back during May. Collectively, primary markets and traditional closing auctions accounted for 67.3% of all on-exchange equities volume in May, their...

Bond traders swap phones for new technology as market catches up

By Tommy Wilkes and Dhara Ranasinghe June 4, 2019, Reuters Carl James became a trader when he was 19, in the boisterous telephone dealing rooms of the 1990s. Now, he and his colleagues at Pictet Asset Management are about...

MiFID II double volume caps: fragile equilibrium is temporary

By Thomas Helm June 10, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR Equity markets have reached a fragile equilibrium following the disruption caused by MiFID II’s double volume cap (DVC) rule, bank, and trading venue sources have told Practice Insight. The...

Sweeping reform needed after Brexit, says French regulator

By Chris Flood and Siobhan Riding June 10, 2019, Financial Times One of France’s top financial regulators has called for sweeping changes to Europe’s investment rules in a speech that emphasized the profound challenges awaiting the U.K.’s finance industry...

AMF’s Ophèle: we need to change E.U. swaps trading mandate

By Samuel Wilkes June 5, 2019, Risk Robert Ophèle, chairman of French supervisor Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), is in favor of loosening the scope of the European Union’s derivatives trading obligation to avoid duplicative requirements for the same...

AMF chair calls out limitations of E.U. regulation

By Louisa Chender June 4, 2019, Global Investor Group The chairman of the French financial markets regulator called out several limitations of European legislation as he discussed some of the changes needed in a post-Brexit world. Speaking at FIA...

Exchange leaders call for joined up regulation

By Luke Jeffs June 4, 2019, Global Investor Group The leaders of the world’s top exchanges have called for international regulators, particularly those in Europe and the U.S., to align their agendas more closely and simplify cross-border trading. Speaking...

ESMA, National Watchdogs Assess Application of MiFID II

By Paige Long June 4, 2019, Law360 The European Union’s top securities regulator has launched a new initiative with national regulators across the bloc aimed at making sure sprawling trading rules that came into force in January last year...

FCA to transition to “enforcement mode” soon – Duff & Phelps

By James Thursfield June 3, 2019, Global Investor Group Duff & Phelps expects the U.K. financial markets watchdog to step up its enforcement of transaction reporting requirements soon, which might catch out firms that are unaware that they are...

MiFID rules inhibit use of multiple platforms by advisers

By David Thorpe May 30, 2019, FTAdviser The MiFID II rule requiring advisers to notify clients of a 10 per cent drop in their portfolio is putting some advisers off using multiple platforms. Philip Milton, who runs PJ Milton...

E.U. advisory firms still not complying with MiFID II

By Thomas Helm May 30, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR The majority of advisory firms are still not fully compliant with the FCA’s Prod Rules and their E.U. equivalents, according to consultancy sources. The diverse rules, which exist to...

Fund groups add MiFID top-ups as Brexit fears persist

By Owen Walker June 1, 2019, Financial Times Dozens of global asset managers have been given permission by regulators in Dublin and Luxembourg to set up investment operations outside the U.K. in moves that could undermine London’s role as...

Poor Data Hampers Best Execution Analysis

By Shanny Basar May 31, 2019, Markets Media Fund managers are frustrated with the lack of uniformity and standardization of data from the sell-side which they need to fulfill their reporting requirements for best execution due to MiFID II....

Desperate Times Call for New Approaches: Substantial Underperformance of European Managers Post-MiFID II Requires Fresh Thinking

By Neil Scarth, Kite Edge Originally published on the TABBFORUM Post-MiFID II, U.S. managers appear to be outspending their European counterparts on market research, and European managers’ relative performance has suffered as a result. If managers have to work...

Bankers bemoan MiFID’s high costs and unclear benefits

By Philip Stafford May 23, 2019, Financial Times For one of Europe’s most senior markets regulators, the arrival of MiFID II after seven long years has been a real tonic. It was “a smoother than expected transition to the...

Curious case of Colombian bonds raises fresh doubt over MiFID II reports

By Samuel Agini May 24, 2019, Financial News Colombian government debt trades supposedly worth hundreds of billions of euros are at the center of a mystery in Europe’s bond markets, where tough new reporting requirements continue to puzzle traders...

Analysts Make Research Cooler, Wonkier, and Bespoke to Lure Cash

By Justina Lee May 21, 2019, Bloomberg UBS analysts tore a Tesla Model 3 apart. They teamed up with engineers to examine its parts and detail its technology. They did the same with BMW and Chevy electric vehicles. Then...

MiFID II having negative impact on European equity liquidity sourcing

By John Brazier May 21, 2019, The Trade The introduction of MiFID II to Europe’s equities markets has made sourcing liquidity a harder task for the buy-side, according to a new report from Greenwich Associates. A review of the...

Best execution risks being “theoretical” – report

By Louisa Chender May 23, 2019, Global Investor Group The concept of best execution could end up being merely theoretical rather than delivering real value to investors in practice due to ongoing data quality issues, according to a Liquidnet...

MiFID II unbundling opened Pandora’s box – Liquidnet

By Louisa Chender May 24, 2019, Global Investor Group MiFID II research unbundling requirements has set a precedent for firms across the globe that would be difficult to reverse, according to Liquidnet’s head of market structure and strategy. For...

Morningstar: European ETF assets to hit €2trn by 2024

By Tom Eckett May 16, 2019, ETFStream Morningstar has predicted assets under management European-domiciled ETFs will almost triple to hit €2trn by 2024 due to favourable regulatory changes, innovation and increasing understanding on the benefits of low-cost investing. In...