The vast majority of buy-side firms feel that institutional investors have had no meaningful influence on the legislative process building up to new MiFID II rules, according to a Greenwich Associates survey.
Of 103 institutional investors quizzed, only 11% think that sufficient consideration has been given to the needs of pension funds and other beneficiaries of long-term investment in the MiFID II process.
In addition, 70% of respondents think institutional investors have had little or no say in the process, with only six per cent expressing the belief that the buy-side has had a 'significant' or even 'modest' influence.
Respondents are divided on whether the broker community had been influential in the process, with 43% saying not but 38% believing the opposite.
In contrast, 70% think that European stock exchanges have had a say in guiding the direction of MiFID II regulations. More than two thirds think that the exchanges have a greater influence on the regulations than the regulators themselves.
On the specifics of MiFID II, the buy-side expresses serious concerns about plans for a new type of regulated trading venue, the Organised Trading Facility (OTF). Around two thirds think that OTFs will hit their ability to execute in dark pools or crossing networks, while only 11% think the rules will have a positive impact.
Without the ability to trade large blocks with brokers, there is a concern among the buy-side that it will be much harder to conduct business efficiently. About three quarters say access to traditional over-the-counter services, such as capital commitment and block crossing, will be negatively impacted by the proposals.
Meanwhile, 42% of respondents have concerns that the MiFID II regulations will hit their ability to access pre- and post-trade data on reasonable terms, compared to just 13% who believe they would have a positive or very positive effect. Broadly, traders have been asking for a single consolidated tape that brings together prices from various venues, the net effect of which would be less cost incurred on price discovery by trading firms, says Greenwhich.
Kevin Kozlowski, analyst, Greenwich Associates, concludes: "There is no doubt regulators are being cautious and want to ensure every possible avenue of excess risk-taking is looked at very carefully. Balancing that with institutional investors' aspirations remain a challenge."