On April 15, in a plenary session of the European Parliament, MEPs voted to adopt the updated rules on MiFID II.
In his comments on the vote, included in the European Commission's Statement, Michel Barnier, the outgoing Internal Market and Services Commissioner said: “I welcome today’s adoption of MiFID II by the European Parliament. Our legislation needs to keep pace with the changes in financial markets and implement our G20 commitments. The new rules will improve the way markets function in order to serve the real economy. They will establish a safer, more transparent and more responsible financial system and restore investor confidence in the wake of the financial crisis. I would like to congratulate the European Parliament - especially the rapporteur, Markus Ferber, and the shadow rapporteurs - for their hard work and commitment on this important file."
Along with the statement, the European Commission have also released a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Implementation timeline
FIA Europe intends to confirm the structure of its MiFID II/MiFIR Working Groups shortly after the Joint Trade Association Group has completed the process of agreeing which trade association(s) will take the lead in each area of MiFID II/R. FIA Europe will then publish those working groups on its website. In the interim we outline the key dates in the MIFID/MiFIR implementation timetable below:
- In the coming days, the European Commission will issue a call for advice to ESMA on all Level 2 measures including technical standards and Delegated Acts
- On the 19-20 May the ESMA Board of Supervisors will sign off on Level 2 materials
In early June, ESMA is expected to issue two papers for comment:
1) A discussion paper presenting policy options on regulatory technical standards and implementing technical standards
2) A consultation paper on Delegated Acts. Both consultations are likely to have a two-month response period
- June 2014 MiFID/R texts will be published in the Official Journal
- ESMA has until December 2014 to deliver its advice on Delegated Acts to the European
- In December 2014 or early January 2015 ESMA intends to issue a further consultation paper on regulatory technical standards and implementing technical standards on the legislative texts of the Level 2 measures
- ESMA will deliver final advice on regulatory technical standards to the Commission in June 2015
- ESMA will deliver final advice on implementing technical standards to the Commission in December 2015
- Member States must transpose MiFID into national law by June 2016
- January 2017 MiFID II becomes applicable
