What is MIFID, and what are the changes in MIFID II ? MIFID was the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive to establish a stronger, effective, and transparent market in the jurisdiction of the EU. The European Union has run MIFID since 2007 and replaced by MIFID 2 in 2018 to achieve sustainable economic growth.
What Does MiFID Stand For?
It is a European regulation that enhances transparency in financial markets and standardizes regulatory disclosures for companies operating in the European Union to achieve sustainable economic growth in Europe. MiFID regulation has taken new measures, such as businesses' transparency requirements when trading, and financial firms have set behavior standards to follow. The MiFID ii Directive was prepared in 2004 and came into force in 2007. It has generally revealed the following; execution of business and organization requirements for investment firms, authorization for regulated markets, regulatory reporting to prevent market misuse, rules on transparency for commercial shares, and the acceptance of financial instruments to trade. Investment companies, institutions providing stock exchange and banks are the businesses in the scope of MiFID standards . Under its authority, their product provisions and operations of financial instruments are supervised.
When it came into force, it could not meet adequate regulations in the field of investment. As a result, a new arrangement called MiFID II , compatible with the latest technologies, emerged in 2018. MiFID II regulates the gaps in the arrangement. It aims to become a more powerful version of the previous law. It focuses on transaction reporting and requirements, enhancing the client's protection, properly managing portfolios, and making trading platforms more open. In addition, the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) works with the MiFID and MiFID 2 to extend the conduct rules to other types of assets.
Key Takeaway
Which financial instruments are added of late in MiFID II?
- Structured deposits issued or sold by credit institutions
- Certain packaged retail investment products (PRIPs)
- All emissions allowances (such as carbon)
- The sale of financial instruments issued by the investment firm.
Who Is Affected by MiFID II?
MiFID2 affects all investment services, including banks and non-banks. In other words, it briefly covers all kinds of financial services. This Directive does not directly regulate private investors, individuals but instead regulates firms that operate on their behalf. MiFID 2 promotes infrastructural improvement while helping them provide their customers the most transparent and valuable service. In addition to these, fixed income markets, derivative markets, treasury transactions, and accounting are also affected by the Directives.
Before MiFID ii regulations , investment companies could only collect information from one or two public exchanges. Together with MiFID 2 , they can collect information from all sales points as long as they publicly disclose their prices and details. Thus, financial institutions can access as much information as possible.
What Are The MiFID Requirements?
Companies within the scope of MiFID can be established and organized in their own country. After a company is issued, it can use the MiFID passport to provide services to customers in other EU member states. MiFID requires companies to classify customers as professional customers or retail customers. Clear procedures should be available to categorize customers and they must be evaluated appropriate regulations for each investment product. It recommends a firm to act in the customer's interests regarding the information received when accepting custom orders.
In MiFID II, asset managers' ability to conduct investment research with customer commissions is severely restricted, so this issue is often discussed. MiFID II requires firms to take all necessary steps to achieve the best possible result in fulfilling a customer's order. The best possible outcome is not limited to the execution price but includes cost, speed, probability of execution and resolution, and other relevant factors. Also, MiFID II treats Systematic Internalizers as mini-exchanges.
The European Commission states several rules under MiFID II, such as;
- To provide transparency in financial markets, sharing data on trading activity and transactions to related entities according to the nature of data
- Using regulated platforms for transactions and trading
- To increase competition, bringing together merchants and service providers
- Organizing algorithmic and frequent trading
- Protection of investors in a competitive market
Elements Forming MiFID
Transparency
With MiFID , transparency in the stock market has significantly increased. Commercial data and public disclosure of the market have become mandatory, and new regulations for non-equity products have entered into force, including pre and post-trade regulations.
Market Structure
In MiFID , an improved market structure has been designed mainly to close the previous regulation gaps. As a result, trade has shifted to regulated platforms. With this arrangement, when Investment firms place customer orders over the systems, their transactions should be registered as Multilateral Trade Facility (MTF ). Also, an Organized Trade Facility (OTF) has been created as a multilateral trading platform to synchronize MTFs with Regulated Markets (RMs).
Investor Protection
New requirements for protecting customer assets and monitoring products have occurred. The marketing and distribution of financial products have become prohibited by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) . New and improved codes of conduct regarding customer information developed with the regulation. Finally, the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) has been amended to provide new regulations for insurance-based investment products.
Reporting Requirement
Reporting of all transactions has now become mandatory. The degree of required details in the report is also more extensive. Firms must regularly check their reporting framework using a test system to ensure that reporting is done correctly. Reporting requirements have become essential for regulators and risk managers.
MiFIR Review
After enactment of
Mifid II
,
MiFIR
conducted the first examination of the directives to analyze how to improve the market in the light of it.
MiFIR
reviewed the data collected from companies across the EU to inspect different implementations of the regulation. It aimed to plan pathway to provide improvements of pricing and liduidity in a competitive market. The review states that;
- After Mifid II , competition in the market increased in a positive way
- Plan to create most transparent and advantageous market in terms of price in the EU
- Advancing financial assets, stock markets and bonds in this territory
Key Takeaway
How did the UK handle directives after Brexit?
- HM Treasury, FCA and Prudential Regultion Authority (PRA) were commissioned as responsible bodies
- FCA and PRA prepared handbooks to explain directives according to UK legislation
- The directives were revised in a line with exit regulations for adoptation
