There has been published the minutes of a MiFID II implementation roundtable held at the FCA on 22 October 2015. Among the points raised in the minutes:
- the European Parliament (the Parliament) and Council of the EU (the Council) are having meetings to discuss the technical standards. So far most external commentary on the standards has focused on non-equity transparency, position limits, the ancillary exemption for commercial firms trading commodity derivatives, position limits and best execution issues;
- delegated acts will likely be adopted towards the end of 2015. They will then enter a period of scrutiny by the Parliament and Council during Q1 2016 before being published in the Official Journal of the EU;
- the FCA reaffirmed its plans to publish two consultation papers on implementing MiFID II, one in December 2015 and another probably in March 2016. The first consultation paper will cover mainly markets issues whilst the second consultation will cover, among other things, conduct issues, client assets, systems and controls, enforcement, commodities and the definition of a financial instrument; and
- the FCA is planning to include a Handbook Guide to MiFID II. This reflects the fact that a significant amount of MiFID II takes the form of directly applicable regulations most of which will be referenced in the Handbook but not copied out. The guide will attempt to explain in the course of a few pages how the various parts of the UK’s implementation of MiFID II fit together. A draft would be included in the December consultation paper.
View Minutes of the meeting of the MiFID II implementation roundtable, 4 November 2015
