MiFID (the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) is intended to promote a single EU market for wholesale and retail transactions in financial instruments. It is considered one of the most wideranging and important pieces of financial services legislation introduced in Europe over recent years.

For anyone working in the European financial services sector, MiFID has been big news for some time, given the impact that MiFID will have on the way investment firms conduct business in Europe. But how much focus has your organisation put on the impact MiFID will have on its outsourcing operations?

In this legal update, we consider the rules imposed by MiFID on regulated firms’ outsourcing and third party contracts and what these mean for financial services organisations that are increasingly outsourcing more and more of their functions to third party providers.

In particular, given that MiFID contains no ‘grandfathering’ provisions affected firms should be aware that they do not have much time to ensure that their existing contracts comply with MiFID’s requirements, and to re-negotiate or amend them if they do not, and review and revise all of their standard templates/precedents to ensure that they will be compliant going forward.