MiFID II Proposal: Details and Implications

MiFID II Proposal: Grasping the details and understanding the implications
A debate on the just released MiFID and MiFIR legislative proposals

After months of discussions, the European Commission officially released the draft level 1 text of the new Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and Regulation (MiFIR) on October 20th. This legislative action is bound to ignite sweeping changes in European financial markets. An ECMI lunch-time seminar brought regulators, experts and market participants to discuss the details of the legislative proposal and its impact on markets. Market structure and transparency are key aspects, which will strongly interact with other upcoming regulations such as EMIR (European Market Infrastructure Regulation). This research seminar provided an up to date overview of the text and experts’ opinions on where the most relevant issues ultimately reside. Among the speakers, Maria Teresa Fabregas (DG MARKT) highlighted the importance of keeping consistency between MiFID and other legislative actions. Market participants, represented by Steven Travers from the LSE Group and John Serocold from ICMA, stressed the importance of supporting the bold regulatory actions proposed by strong empirical evidence and avoid killing market liquidity. MiFID II promotes competition to open up market infrastructure and lower the cost of widespread investment services. Diego Valiante, ECMI Head of Research, argued that the shift from a functional to a more rules-based approach could lead to circumvention and constrain legitimate and efficient market activities, ultimately increasing costs for final investors.

Speakers

• Maria Teresa Fabregas, Deputy Head, Securities Market Unit, DG MARKT, European Commission
• Steven Travers, Head of Regulatory Law and Strategy, London Stock Exchange
• John Serocold, Senior Director, International Capital Markets Association
• Karel Lannoo, Senior Research Fellow and CEO, CEPS and ECMI
• Diego Valiante, Research Fellow, CEPS and ECMI

Registration

Participation in this event is free of charge for ECMI and CEPS members. ICMA members are also admitted for free. Non-members may be admitted for €50, paid in cash at registration. A sandwich lunch (€6) will be served before the meeting. Registration will open at 12:30 CET.

• Journalists are welcomed but parts of this event may be held under the Chatham House Rule
• If you experience any problems during registration contact Isabelle Tenaerts at isabelle.tenaerts@ceps.eu or phone 0032 2 229 39 56

Sponsorship

Part of the organisational costs of this event are supported by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA).

Queries

For more information please contact Diego Valiante at diego.valiante@ceps.eu or phone 0032 2 229 39 14.