Tag Archive for: MIFID

MIFID II – a short excursion into the MIFID landscape

| 10-5-2017 | treasuryXL |

MIFID II – you read about it frequently. And there are more abbreviations: you will also find MIFIR and MIFID I.  As a banker you will know what we are talking about.  As a treasurer or financial professional you are supposed to understand what MIFID II will bring you. We think it is time to zoom in on this subject and present a short summary.

MIFID

MIFID, short for ‘Markets in Financial Instruments Directive’ (2004/39/EC) and applicable since November 2007 has been a cornerstone of the EU’s regulation of financial markets  since then. It aims to improve the competitiveness of EU financial markets by creating a single market for investment services and activitities. To ensure a high degree of harmonised protection for investors in financial instruments.

MIFID or MIFID I set out the conducts of business and organisational requirements for investment firms, authorisation requirements for regulated markets, regulatory reporting to avoid market abuse, trade transparency obligation for shares; and rules on the admission of financial instruments to trading.

MIFIR

MIFIR short for Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation is more than a directive. It is a European law and needs to be implemented as written. The member states have to comply with this regulation and the aim is to protect end consumers and markets. It unifies for example reporting and ensures that the reporting format is consistent.

The Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation and the Directive on Markets in Financial Instruments repealing Directive 2004/39/EC, commonly referred to as MiFID II and MiFIR, were adopted by the European Parliament on 15 April 2014, after heavy discussions that lasted more than two years.

MIFID II

MIFID II and MIFIR are building on the rules of MIFID I, already in place. The new rules are designed to take into account developments in the trading environment since the implementation of MiFID in 2007 and, in light of the financial crisis, to improve the functioning of financial markets making them more efficient, resilient and transparent.

MIFID II will be transposed into the national laws of Members States on July 3rd, 2017 and will apply within Member States from January, 3rd, 2018.
(Source: European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

MIFIR reporting list

Implementing MIFID II and MIFIR will be a real challenge, as it brings enormous complexity for enterprises throughout the industry in terms of generating, collecting and processing financial data. We found a MIFIR reporting list, published by the London Stock Exchange Group, which is applicable not only in the United Kingdom.

In short they propose the following to firms to help them be in the best possible position for MiFIR reporting go-live:

  • Preparing your data to the wider scope of MIFID II with a project tool that allows to not only find data but also access it
  • Know what you are doing about data protection
  • Select your ARM (Approved Reporting Mechanism) and APA (Approved Publication Arrangement)
  • Identify which transactions to report by sourcing a reliable list of instruments that are eligible for MiFIR transaction reporting
  • Train your staff
  • Reconcile your data with the help of an ARM
  • Implement appropriate governance –  ensure best practice in effectiveness and appropriate accountability.
  • Give management business insight

More details can be found in the MIFIR reporting list of the London Stock Exchange Group.

There is little time left until the implementation, still much to do in the industry and it will involve considerable human resources and IT costs. The trading landscape will change significantly.

 

Annette Gillhart – Community Manager treasuryXL

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Treasury and regulations: A changing environment

| 15-2-2017 | Theo Paardekoper |

Companies need to comply to their regulatory framework in their industry. For the treasury department  a regulatory framework is applicable which is basically linked to the financial industry and not linked to the industry of the company. Because regulations in the financial industry are changing it is important for the treasurer to update.

Regulations

Important regulations and rulings for treasurers are EMIR, MIFID and MIFID II/MIFIR.

Other regulations that are applicable for the financial industry, like UCITS and AIFM (regulations for investments funds) and CRD rules (capital requirement directive as a result of BASEL III) do not effect the corporate treasury directly, but the side effect of these rules can have effects on pricing and product offering by financial institutions.

Anti Money Laundring regulations (MOT-melding in The Netherlands) are not only applicable for banks. Also corporates are mandatory to register these transactions at the Finance Intelligence Unit of the Dutch Tax autorities.
The regulations mentioned above are all linked to the European regulatory framework and are valid in addition to local laws, like the WfT (Wet Financieel Toezicht) in the Netherlands.

EMIR (= European Market Infrastructure Regulation)

This regulation is valid since August 2012 and was initiated after the Lehman Brothers bankrupty in 2008. The main goal of EMIR is to improve transpancy of the OTC market to create a clear overview of all the derivative positions. This was one of the main problems that became clear after the Lehman bankrupty. It was totally unclear to get a view on the derivate positions and risk of  a counterparty. Emir also introduced a solid clearing member (named CCP) and Trade Repository members to register your  OTC derivates. To register your positions a LEI  (Legal Entity Identifier) can be obtained at the Chamber of Commerce.
EMIR is not (yet) applicable for small pensionfunds.

MIFID (= Markets In  Financial Instruments Derivatives)

Main objective of MIFID is to increase competition in the investment industry and to protect consumers. The well-known 40/20/2 rule to define a professional or non-professional counterparty is one of the items to protect consumers and force financial institutions into a duty of care. One of the results is a direct view on the Market-to-Market pricing of the companies derivates and monitoring of margin call obligations.
Also the classification based on knowledge is an important item and can be part of discussion during a lawsuit.
Mifid increased the number of trades in the OTC market what caused a more fragmented  view on market pricing. Financial institutions are forced to provide the 5 best quotes in the market to their clients.

MIFID II

In January 2018 this new set of regulations is applicable. Mifid II made Mifid regulations also applicable for commodity and CO2-rights traders. Also market data suppliers must be registered to comply with MIFID II. Structured deposits (return is not interest based but linked to an other ratio link EUR/USD or oilprice) will also fall under the scope of Mifid. Change of classifications on behalf of Mifid II classifies local governmental entities as non-professionals. Health Institutions governmental education and housing associations are not clearly excluded as non-professional.

 

Mifid II will mainly “change the game”  of  manufacturers and distributors of financial services, but this regulations will give corporates more tools in case of a conflict about a trade. The negative side effect of new regulations is that pricing in the market will increase because of reduced competition as a result of higher entry barriers in the market.
Any action required for a corporate treasurer?

It is up to your bank to comply to MIFID II. So I would say “no”. The bank will inform you with new legal documentation and product information in the near future.

Theo Paardekoper 

Independent treasury specialist

 

 

 

 

 

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