Less Research? No Problem, Hedge Funds Say.

By Julie Steinberg and Paul J. Davies January 13, 2020, The Wall Street Journal Hedge funds are cashing in on an unintended consequence of European financial regulations on investment research: Less information about some stocks. Put in place two...

E.U. financial regulation in 2020: what to expect

By Alice Tchernookova January 10, 2020, Practice Insight from IFLR In its 2020 annual work program, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) defined the enhancement of investor protection and the promotion of stable and orderly financial markets as...

Some risks subsiding but investors overall still wary of new year

By Paulina Pielchata January 13, 2020, Pensions&Investments Money managers and asset allocators in Europe will not be immune to lingering risks in 2020 even if the Continent can avoid a recession, sources said. European institutional investors may begin to...

ISDA Wants Regulators to use its Model to Draft Rules

By Josephine Gallagher January 9, 2020, WatersTechnology The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) is pushing its Common Domain Model (CDM) for regulators to adopt when amending or drafting future regulations. “We want to do this as an open...

Trade bodies FIA, ISDA back MiFID II reform

By Joe Walters January 9, 2020, Global Investor Group The Futures Industry Association (FIA) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) have suggested improvements to Europe’s MiFID II rules on commodity derivative position limits. MiFID II position limits...

City bankers show favor to clients on share ratings

By Alex Ralph December 30, 2019, The Times Investment banks are treating their clients more favorably than other companies in equity research coverage, an investigation by The Times has found. The study of the ratings given to listed companies...

Trade bodies reveal template to combat reporting woes

December 20, 2019, GlobalCapital Five trade bodies have drawn up a single template for Securities Financing Transactions Regulation and European Market Infrastructure Regulation. The Association of Financial Markets in Europe, Futures Industry Association, International Capital Market Association, International Swaps...

Analyst Jobs Vanish as a Perfect Storm Crashes Into Research

By Justina Lee December 19, 2019, Bloomberg A Citigroup Inc. analyst for almost 18 years, Andrew Howell knows very well what to expect when you’re pitching a service that fewer and fewer customers need or want. So he found...

A Tip of the Hat to the Top Regulations of the Decade

By Adrian Whelan, Brown Brothers Harriman Originally published at the On the Regs blog I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they pass. -The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy It is hard to believe we...

FCA to “dramatically increase” scrutiny in 2020 – expert

By Luke Jeffs December 18, 2019, Global Investor Group U.K. regulator the Financial Conduct Authority is set next year to “dramatically increase” the levels of scrutiny it applies to reporting obligations under Europe’s MiFIR and EMIR reforms, a reporting...

MiFID II: expect enforcement in 2020

By Hugo Bromley December 17, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR Firms across the E.U. should expect a change in approach from regulators on MiFID II data reporting failures in 2020, according to market participants. “There’s an overall perception that...

MiFID II: ELPs Assert Their Presence in SI Market

By Larry Tabb, TABB Group Originally published on the TABB Forum While 2019 has been a down year for European equities on most accounts, it has been a good year for electronic liquidity providers. A key trend in the...

Open access advocates fear German threat

By Ross Lancaster December 12, 2019, GlobalCapital As European Union regulators start to review the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, some market participants are nervous that Germany will use the opportunity to stamp out their own ambitions for open...

Leaked email reveals new assault on CCP open access rules

By Samuel Wilkes December 17, 2019, Risk The European People’s Party, a center-right faction in the European Parliament, has requested a 24-month delay to an obligation requiring trading venues to allow listed derivatives traders the freedom of choice of...

Brexit to spark MiFID III, warns former MEP Swinburne

By David Ricketts and Samuel Agini December 16, 2019, Financial News Get ready for MiFID III. City companies have barely got to grips with a significant overhaul of Europe’s trading and investor protection framework, known as MiFID II, but...

Banks to push for new E.U. access plan after U.K. election

By Huw Jones December 13, 2019, Reuters Banks in Britain are drawing up fresh proposals for how they could access customers in the European Union after Brexit in a bid to influence U.K.-E.U. trade talks next year following the...

As U.S. banks’ shadow lengthens, Europeans plan their fight back

By Jasper Cox December 12, 2019, GlobalCapital The pain keeps on coming for European investment banks. U.S. competitors have cemented their dominance for the foreseeable future and Europeans are trying to fight for smaller victories. First in 2019 it...

MiFID II reviews ‘unlikely to solve fundamental issues’

By Hugo Bromley December 11, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR Though European regulatory authorities are currently reviewing almost every aspect of the MiFID II regulatory framework, significant shifts are unlikely, according to several sources speaking to Practice Insight. The...

European derivatives market valued at €735 trillion

By Hayley McDowell December 9, 2019, The Trade The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has valued the E.U. derivatives market at €735 trillion at the end of 2018, driven by a surge in trading across interest rate derivatives...

MiFID II creates ‘existential threat’ for small research groups

By Siobhan Riding December 8, 2019, Financial Times Boutique research providers’ business models are coming under increasing pressure two years on from the introduction of E.U. markets rules, in what an industry association describes as an “existential threat” to...

E.U. regulator says MiFID II rules have failed on market data costs

By Philip Stafford December 5, 2019, Financial Times European exchanges will face closer monitoring of the prices they charge customers for basic data, after regulators ruled that the MiFID II markets revamp had not delivered on its aim of...

Why Europe’s markets might need MiFID III

By Samuel Wilkes December 5, 2019, Risk Whispers of a review of Europe’s almost two-year-old trading and transparency rules have become full-throated talk. Disquiet among dealers and buy-siders over the provision of data on new bonds and derivatives is...

New data reveals the number of U.K. investment firms struggling with MiFID II reporting

By John Brazier December 5, 2019, The Trade Newly released data has found that 546 firms have reported errors in transaction reporting under the MiFID II regime, following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from consultancy Duff & Phelps....

Industry warned as regulators fail to provide feedback on MiFID II transaction reporting

By Hayley McDowell December 4, 2019, The Trade European regulators are failing to provide feedback to most market participants on the quality of transaction reports submitted under MiFID II, almost two years after the rules were implemented. A majority...

Analyst coverage shrinks after fee shake up

By Robin Wigglesworth and Philip Stafford December 2, 2019, Financial Times Investment banks’ cuts to their research departments have begun to weigh on their coverage of even Europe’s largest companies, as regulatory and commercial pressures force them to retrench...

MiFID II: market wants research unbundling review

By Alice Tchernookova December 3, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR Market participants have contested the idea that it may be too early to make a full assessment of the impact of MiFID II’s research unbundling rules. The idea was...

MiFID II’s review path ahead

By Alice Tchernookova November 28, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR “It’s fair to say that MiFID II is almost like the air we breathe: it’s so prevalent in everything, that it’s inherently a topic of every discussion,” a City...

Away from equities: MiFID II, PRIIPs struggle in fixed income, derivatives

By Hugo Bromley November 29, 2019, Practice Insight from IFLR Regulations such as MiFID II are complicated and difficult to implement because they are designed for equities markets, say senior legal sources at European banks and technology providers speaking...

Investors pull £63bn from active funds following MiFID II

By Imogen Tew November 28, 2019, FT Adviser Investors have pulled an average of £3.5bn a month from active funds since MiFID II rules highlighted the extra cost of active management to fee-pressured advisers. Data from Morningstar showed active...

How investment analysts became data miners

By Robin Wigglesworth November 28, 2019, Financial Times Dealmakers, traders, and globe-trotting executives are the public face of the modern investment bank, but for many clients in fund management, the key point of contact is with banks’ less glamorous...