14 Jun ESMA Chief: No more MiFID II delays
Last week Steven Maijoor, the chair of the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA), countered market rumors by confirming that there would be no further delay in the implementation of MiFID II.
Speaking during the FIA IDX conference in London, ESMA’s Steven Maijoor eased concerns that the regulation would face further delay.
“Contrary to some recent coverage and commentary, MiFID 2/MiFIR will come into effect on 3 January 2018, there will be no further delay in its implementation. One delay has been enough for all concerned,” said Maijoor.
“The implementation and operation of MiFID 2/MIFIR are testing both regulators and market participants, but I am confident that we, at ESMA, have the capacity to meet these challenges.”
ESMA informed the European Commission in October 2015 “that a delay to the technical implementation of MiFID II was unavoidable.”
At the time, it was said that implementing the new regulation by the original January 2017 deadline would have led to “legal uncertainty and potential market disruption.” As a result, the implementation date was delayed until January 2018, though there have been concerns the timescale remains too tight for market participants to comply with the substantial regulation.
Maijoor also laid out ESMA’s plans for industry consultation in coming months, warning market participants they will only have six weeks to respond to proposals that would mean derivatives trades must be traded electronically on a trading venue, rather than privately between banks.
“ESMA is a firm believer in the positive effects the trading obligation will have on the transparency and competitiveness of derivatives markets,” he said.
However, Maijoor added, the rules will also need approval from other regulatory and legislative bodies, before presenting its advice to the European Commission “in early Autumn”.
Maijoor also confirmed that ESMA remains on track with the necessary IT projects.
“We have made significant progress over the last months with the implementation of our ESMA IT projects that will be crucial for the successful implementation of MiFID II.”
“ESMA is on track with all MIFID 2/MIFIR IT projects, in particular the Financial Instruments Reference Data System (comprising the collection of reference and trading data and the transparency calculations), and the double volume cap mechanism,” said Maijoor.
To help firms prepare for MiFID II EIMF organizes a series of MiFID II seminars in 2017. Our upcoming sessions taught by MiFID II expert Vivienne Bannigan are:
MiFID II: Navigating the Regulatory and Operational Implementation Challenges | 26 June
An opportunity to explore the framework which aims to identify safe ports while navigating uncertain regulatory and operational changes. MiFID II will create new requirements for firms and fundamentally alter the structures of certain markets.
Look at the specific requirements of the Directive regarding what firms need to implement to assure that the firm’s clients are adequately protected and demonstrate appropriate compliance.
MiFIR: An Exploration of Transaction Reporting | 28 June
An opportunity to understand the importance of transaction reporting to the detection of market abuse, and review and highlight some of the significant challenges