Big HFT Warns Against Late Change to E.U. Trading Rules

By Samuel Agini July 19, 2017, Financial News One of the world’s best-known high frequency trading firms has told European authorities it is too late to start making changes to Europe’s incoming securities rulebook — which has already been...

Nasdaq Says SIs Have Unfair Advantages

By John Bakie July 19, 2017, The Trade Nasdaq has urged the European Commission to re-examine systematic internalizer (SI) rules in MiFID II, saying they will have a significant advantage over other trading venues. According to a written response...

Energy Firms Expect to Escape MiFID II Without Cutting Books

By Stella Farrington July 18, 2017, Risk Following the publication of data on the size of European Union commodity derivatives markets on July 7, the majority of energy firms now believe they can qualify for an exemption from the...

MiFID II Cost Disclosures Pose Risk to Liquidity, Warn Banks

By Chris Davis July 18, 2017, Risk Dealers have warned that Europe’s incoming cost disclosure requirements for over-the-counter derivatives trades will significantly increase trade latency and impact market liquidity for plain vanilla instruments. Banks are hoping regulators bless a...

MiFID II Research Unbundling to Be Global Norm

By John Crabb July 14, 2017, International Financial Law Review With the deadline looming closer, the extraterritorial reach of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) on third countries is yet to be clarified – but a...

U.K.’s FCA Sets Out Final Research Rules: 5 Key Takeaways on Unbundling

By Neil Keane, Fat Tail Consulting Originally published on the TabbFORUM (and a version on LinkedIn) The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority set out its final rules on MiFID II implementation on July 3. RPAs, third-country firms and execution services...

Hedge Funds See MiFID Win in E.U. Warning to Trading Platforms

By Silla Brush July 17, 2017, Bloomberg Markets Hedge funds and high-speed traders have been fighting for years to level the playing field with banks on derivatives trading. They just won a round in Europe. The European Securities and...

ESMA Wants Tighter Rules on Robo-Advisory

By Jack Ball July 14, 2017, Global Investor Group Europe’s main financial regulator has proposed tighter rules for robo-advisory firms under the MiFID II reform package set to take effect across Europe in January next year. The European Securities...

Data, Regtech, and a Compliance Ecosystem in the Cloud

By Dayle Scher, Tabb Group Originally published on the TabbFORUM Financial services risk and compliance officers are dealing with arguably the most demanding, most complex regulatory reporting requirements in history. While firms acknowledge they continue to struggle with...

Tighter Rules Unlikely to Stem Flow of Dark Trading to SIs

By John Bakie July 13, 2017, The Trade Updated rules for the systematic internalizer (SI) regime are unlikely to prevent the venues from becoming major dark trading venues, according to Michael Horan, head of trading services at BNY Mellon...

E.U. Regulator Publishes Checklist for Brexit Movers

By Clare Dickinson, Mark Cobley, and Samuel Agini July 13, 2017, Financial News The European Union’s markets regulator has set out a list of do’s and don’ts for U.K. firms wanting to set up an E.U. presence after Brexit,...

As Day of the MiFID Approaches, Specialist Brokers Advance, Not Retreat

By Helen Reid July 11, 2017, Reuters Brokers specializing in researching mid-cap stocks are sharpening their focus and hiring rather than retreating ahead of sweeping regulatory changes that on the face of it could hurt their business. The idea...

Industry Welcomes ‘Pragmatic’ FCA Approach on MiFID II but ‘No Excuse for Further Delays’

By Mike Sheen July 10, 2017, Investment Week Regulatory experts have said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has shown “a more flexible side” following the release of its final Policy Statement on the implementation of MiFID II for U.K....

Exchange Data Made Up a Third of Revenues in 2016

By Joe Parsons July 11, 2017, The Trade Global exchange revenues totaled a record $28.3 billion in 2016, with exchange data fees making up almost a third of global revenues, according to new research. A report from Burton-Taylor, an...

MiFID II Clash of the Titans 3: Best Ex and Unbundling

By George Bollenbacher, Capital Markets Advisors Originally published on the TabbFORUM As we get closer to the effective date of MiFID II/MiFIR, we keep finding pieces of the puzzle that don’t fit together. The latest of these conflicts is...

Dark Pool Traders Look to Stay in the Shadows

By Will Hadfield July 10, 2017, Bloomberg Markets Dark pools face a major overhaul once European limits on hidden trading kick in next year. Luckily for investors, there’s a buffet of offerings to help keep their stock trades under...

MiFID II Reconciliation: Important Requirements and Data Concerns for Compliance

By Manu Garg, Senior Associate in Trading and Risk Management at Sapient Global Markets While the financial industry has intently focused on reporting requirements under Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II ahead of the January 3rd deadline, the...

ESMA Consults on Refreshing Short Selling Rules

By Vivek Ahuja July 7, 2017, Financial News The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a new consultation into the region’s short-selling rules, and is considering broadening market-makers’ exemption to them to cover a wider pool of financial...

Analysts Saved by Stroke of the FCA’s Pen

By Andy Bounds July 9, 2017, Financial Times Analysts and small companies are breathing a sigh of relief. The Financial Conduct Authority has decided that a free research report linked to a share issue is not an “inducement” under...

Planners Concerned FCA Not Setting the Right Tone on Call Recording

By Elliot Smith July 7, 2017, New Model Advisor Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance that advisers will need to record details of calls with clients where they make a transition has left some planners concerned. A paper published earlier this week...

MiFID II’s Traded on a Trading Venue Confusion Continues

By Lizzie Meager July 5, 2017, International Financial Law Review The European derivatives market remains uncertain about incoming transparency and reporting requirements under the region’s furthest-reaching piece of financial regulation yet. The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II...

Head of Trading: A Role Redefined

By Joe Parsons July 6, 2017, The Trade Global heads of trading at major asset management firms are spending less and less time actually trading. After conducting in-depth interviews with eight heads of desks, The TRADE discovered that those...

Markets Break Out in MiFID II Sweat as New Rules Loom

By Philip Stafford July 5, 2017, Financial Times “The interest in this outside the E.U. is phenomenal,” says James Roberts, director of European public policy at ISDA, the derivatives trade association. “Some people are just waking up to it.”...

Europe Details Derivatives Treatment Under PRIIPs and KID

By Julie Aelbrecht July 5, 2017, Global Investor Group Europe’s top financial regulators have detailed the treatment of derivatives under new European rules for retail and insurance products. The European Supervisory Agencies, which includes the European Securities and Markets...

‘PD3’ – Are You Thinking About It?

By Sarah Natt, Delta Capita Originally published on the TabbFORUM While many will still recall the pain of ‘PD2’ implementation in 2012, the European Union has announced a new Prospectus Regulation that will repeal and replace the existing...

ESMA Sets MiFID II Transparency Calculations

By Richard Crump July 3, 2017, Law360 The European Securities and Markets Authority on Monday published details on the classification of financial instruments that must meet transparency requirements when changes to the European Union’s new securities trading rules take...

FCA Gives Clarity on MiFID II Research Trials

By Fareed Sahloul July 4, 2017, Financial News Investment companies trying to choose which research houses to use in a new era of E.U. trading rules should be allowed to take free three-month trials with providers to help them...

U.K. Compliance Managers Predict MiFID II Exemption Post-Brexit

By Hayley McDowell July 4, 2017, The Trade A group of compliance and IT managers have said they believe once the U.K. leaves the E.U., their organisation will be exempt from MiFID II. One in four respondents in a...

Poll: Asia’s Biggest MiFID II Compliance Concerns

By Brian Yap July 4, 2017, International Financial Law Review The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) is set to make landfall on January 3, 2018, giving Asian financial institutions and corporates less than half year to...

FCA Trail Commission U-Turn Sets Stage for Fresh Upheaval

By Taha Lokhandwala and Dave Baxter July 3, 2017, FTAdviser Advisers and fund managers have been forced to consider the prospect of radical change after the FCA surprised the industry last week by raising the possibility of a sunset...