The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive ‘MiFID II’ came into play on January 3rd 2018. MiFID was originally formed in response to the financial crisis of 2008 to prevent it happening again.
The new MiFID II regulations have gone a step further and stipulate that any organisation providing financial services to clients linked to ‘financial instruments’ will have to record and store all communications intended to lead to a transaction.
In June 2017 a survey carried out by JWG, experts in regulatory change management, found that 90% of buy-side firms believed that they were at high or medium risk of not being compliant with the MiFID II regulations by the January 2018 deadline.
Despite the original deadline date being delayed for an entire year, businesses still faced a mammoth task to become compliant with the new rules before 3rd January 2018.
Under the new legislation many organisations, that were previously unaffected by the MiFID regulations, must implement a communication recording and storage process that is deemed suitable by the MiFID II guidelines.
Firms that are non-compliant with MiFID II regulations will risk fines of up to €5 million euros, or 10% of global turnover, according to NPL, the UK’s National Measurement Institute.
Who must comply to MiFID II?
Under the new MiFID II regulations any business providing financial services to their clients that are linked to ‘financial instruments’ must record and store all forms of communication, including phone calls, emails, texts and face to face meetings, that are intended to lead to a transaction.
The previous MiFID regulations state that only organisations involved directly in trading must record conversations, which means that businesses that previously weren’t affected by the rules must review whether they are now required to meet the regulations.
To help businesses who are unsure whether they are affected by the new regulations we have created an easy to understand guide on MiFID II, including the key changes and what they could mean for your business.
The process of becoming MiFID II compliant
Each time new regulations, such as MiFID II, are introduced, many businesses are forced to change the way in which they operate. For example, many organisations are now required to record forms of communication that were previously unnecessary.
The process of recording communications, and storing them for up to 6 years in line with the new regulations, can be time consuming and expensive.
The MiFID II regulations affect any business that is involved in a potential transaction, therefore many financial companies that have not previously been asked to carry out recording and reporting are now faced with this task.
As the regulations affect companies of all sizes and turnovers, it is important that they each find a cost-effective and sustainable way of meeting the guidelines, which can often be found by working with an expert in communication recording and storage. Because of this new requirement, many companies are working with external partners to manage the process of becoming MiFID II compliant.
Speak to our specialist team
If your business is not yet compliant with the MiFID II regulations your business could be facing fines of up to 5 million or 10% of annual turnover – don’t run the risk of ignoring the regulations.
Our team at Seriun have helped many of our clients comply with the new regulations prior to the 3rd January 2018 deadline. If you would like to speak to a member of our team about how we can help your business meet the new guidelines contact us on 01282 500770 or email info@seriun.co.uk