MiFID

A place to discuss MiFID

Retired Member 

MiFID II, the gift that keeps on giving

Hopefully for those of us in financial services MiFID II is now pretty much part of the furniture, and whilst it is causing turmoil and deep discomfort, the reality, is that it is here to stay and there is no going back. Ever. The reason I said ‘hopefully’ is that I have heard some horror stories about CEOs of a few buy side firms who are only just...

08 December 2017 /regulation /wholesale

Retired Member 

Full steam ahead

Yesterday ESMA published the long outstanding reference data for equities and bonds. Captains of the industry might worry little about abbreviations such as LIS, SMS, ADT, AVT or ADNT. But the engineers below deck understand perfectly well that these are the crucial coordinates to keep the ship on course. The reference data allows you to work out ...

07 December 2017 /regulation /wholesale

Retired Member 

Thinking strategically, what do we do with all this data?

Back in the 1700’s Benjamin Franklin famously once said – ‘A place for everything and everything it’s place’, fast forward to 2017 and the increasingly regulated world that we live in today, this statement couldn’t be more fitting. What is the point in recording everything and then 'dumping' it in a box or vault with no strategy about how you migh...

05 December 2017 /regulation

Ivy Schmerken Editorial Director at FlexTrade Systems

Is Market Structure Tied Up in Knots?

With a new head of trading and markets at the SEC, there is optimism that some of the complex market structure issues – such as make-taker incentives and sky-high market data costs — will be looked at in 2018. As these issues wait to be settled, buy-side traders are also grappling with the EU’s MiFID II rules on unbundling research payments from...

01 December 2017 /regulation

Retired Member 

Clarity through the DEA tiers

An ESMA Q&A published this week provides some further guidance regarding the authorization of sub-delegated DEA providers, but it still leaves room for uncertainty. The Q&A draws a distinction between a DEA client that has EU exchange access directly via a member (Tier 1 DEA client), and a DEA client that obtains access through a sub-dele...

20 November 2017 /regulation

Retired Member 

MiFID II, DAY II: Enforcement, Mitigation, Systems, Productivity

If Day 1 is January 3 then Day 2 is any time after that. Implementing systems day 2 may be prove to be a smarter way to invest in compliance and productivity. European market regulators will go-live in two months. We look at possible approaches to enforcement by regulators plus mitigation and productivity strategies for firms involved. Backgroun...

10 November 2017 /regulation

Retired Member 

MiFID II quick fixes

In its consultation for changing RTS 1, published yesterday, ESMA suggests that the tick size regime should also be extended to Systematic Internalisers. I don’t want to discuss whether it is a sensible proposal. Nor do I want to debate whether ESMA can use a Level 2 text to override the explicit statement in MiFID II (Article 18 and 39). MiFID I...

10 November 2017 /regulation /wholesale

Retired Member 

A decade on, it’s time for the sequel

So, MiFID I, you turn 10 today. Happy Birthday! That’s an excellent reason to pause and celebrate a little. When you first arrived markets were dominated by national stock exchanges with little or no pan-European focus, trading was mostly manual, and smart order routing and best execution were foreign terms from across the pond. You’ve certainly l...

01 November 2017 /regulation /wholesale

Darren Thomas MD at IHS Markit

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: MiFID II’s Buy-Side Sell-Side Standoff

Investment managers and brokers both lose unless they resolve differences by the MiFID II deadline Repapering of terms under MiFID II is potentially a massive problem for the buy-side. This issue is often overlooked as asset managers typically rely on their sell-side partners for support. Broker-dealers and banks provide trading strategies, liquid...

19 October 2017 /regulation

Retired Member 

Who makes the decisions around here?

Recording the execution decision maker is a new requirement under MiFID II. Working out how to populate that field turns out to be trickier than expected. Take a buy-side that gives strict execution instructions on how to execute its agency care order. On the one hand, you could argue that the sell-side made no decisions and therefore records NORE ...

17 October 2017 /regulation /wholesale