After two years of discussion and negotiation, it was announced on 14 January 2014 that the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached informal political agreement on “MiFID II”, the package of reforms and amendments to the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive which establishes the framework for the regulation of financial markets and securities across the European Union.
It is understood that the most significant changes to the existing legislation will include:
Next Steps
It is expected that the MiFID II texts will be finalised within the next couple of months. After which, the relevant European bodies shall begin work on the level 2 legislation, bringing the necessary substance and detail to the requirements to be set out in MiFID II.
Once MiFID II is finalised, an implementation period of at least two years before MiFID II comes into effect is expected. MiFID II will therefore likely come into effect during late 2016 or 2017.
We will be issuing alerts on the developments set out above and other provisions of MiFID II as more details become available.
If you would like assistance in understanding how MiFID II may impact your business, please do not hesitate to contact any of the authors of this alert or your usual Bingham contact.
A link to the European Parliament Press Release, announcing that informal political agreement on MiFID II has been reached, can be accessed here.
This article was originally published by Bingham McCutchen LLP.