The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking views from firms and other organisations about MiFID II – a directive partly aimed at investor protection.
MiFID II, which updates the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, aims to reinforce investor protection standards by strengthening conduct of business and organisational requirements.
The FCA has policy choices to make in some areas on how MiFID II is implemented in the UK and is asking for views before it consults more extensively on rule changes at the end of the year, once MiFID II’s implementing measures are finalised.
David Geale, director of policy at the FCA, says: “MiFID is a very significant piece of legislation with implications for many of the firms that we regulate and they all need to start planning for the directive’s implementation.
The discussion paper requests views on a range of things, including the extent to which the FCA should apply MiFID II provisions to insurance-based investment products and pensions, and whether the FCA should ban third-party rebating for discretionary investment management firms.
The paper also details the FCA’s expectations of the likely restrictions on products that can be classified as non-complex and the practical application of the appropriateness test to a wider range of complex products.
Those with comments on the discussion paper have until May 26 to fill in an online response form, or to write to the FCA with their views.
The European Commission is likely to publish the MiFID II implementing measures later this year. The FCA will confirm final rules by July 2016, by which time EU Member States must have transposed MiFID II into national laws and regulations.
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