Lanson's public affairs and regulatory consulting director, Richard Hobbs, says: “When the FSA set out on the road to RDR they said several times they could not guarantee to make it MiFID-proof". But the FSA is not about to stand by and see its beloved RDR project skewered by Europe. Zurich UK Life principal of government and industry affairs, Matthew Connell, thinks the FSA is likely to secure backing from the EC on any request to keep the RDR intact, as it has typically been supportive of the FSA’s RDR aims.
Hobbs adds: “The RDR is gaining ground in Member States. This draft may only reflect the fact that the drafters have got halfway to adopting RDR concepts and not spotted the unintended consequences. The UK’s position will be to negotiate to complete the commission ban, and that seems to me the more likely outcome because the momentum is heading in that direction.”
However, Connell says the layers of European regulation may mean the FSA does not ultimately get its way. While the EC may back the FSA, the next stage is negotiation at the European Council of Ministers. Connell says: “At Council level it might be more difficult for the FSA, given that the UK market with its large IFA presence in the mass market is not duplicated across Europe".
An FSA spokeswoman says: “Our belief is that the general direction of MiFID II is in line with the RDR, but we will obviously continue to work closely with Europe on this".
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