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Firms impacted by the changes to the activities and instruments covered by MiFID II should now apply for authorisation or for variations of permission, or risk being unable to operate in the UK market after 3 January 2018, when MiFID II takes effect.
The near final rules cover:
In June, the FCA plans to finalise the MiFID II rules in a further policy statement. This will cover remaining issues which include conduct of business, perimeter guidance, and client asset protections.
Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the FCA, said:
“MiFID II introduces substantial and wide ranging measures designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity.
“Some firms will need to be authorised for the first time, others will need to vary their current permissions.
“It is critical that those firms submit their applications now. The FCA does not expect to make any significant changes to these rules before they are finalised in June this year, and therefore firms should not delay.”
Organisations affected by MiFID II include investment banks, interdealer brokers, high frequency traders, trading venues, stockbrokers, investment managers, commodity derivatives traders and financial advisers, and the two new types of authorised entity: organised trading facilities and data reporting services providers.