On 15 July 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a consultation paper containing draft guidelines on aspects of the compliance functions requirements under MiFID II.

The purpose of the draft guidelines is to enhance clarity and foster convergence in the implementation of certain aspects of the expanded compliance function requirements introduced under MiFID II, replacing the existing ESMA guidelines on the same topic, issued in 2012.

The consultation paper builds on ESMA’s 2012 guidelines, taking into account the expanded role of the compliance function introduced under MiFID II and the results of supervisory activities conducted by national competent authorities (NCAs) on the application of the compliance functions.

Annex II contains the full text of the draft guidelines, Annex IV presents a correlation table between the proposed draft guidelines and the corresponding 2012 guidelines.

Responses to the consultation should be submitted by 15 October 2019. ESMA will consider the feedback received in Q4 2019/Q1 2020 and expects to publish a final report and guidelines by Q2 2020.