On March 10, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its webpage relating to the review of and forthcoming changes to the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). MiFID sets forth the legal framework governing regulatory requirements applicable to investment firms, trading venues, data reporting service providers and third-country firms providing investment services or conducting investment activities within the 28 member states of the European Union.

The European Union has been reviewing MiFID in recent years and has announced that a new “MiFID II” Directive and a new regulation (which will harmonize rules throughout the European Union), known as the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) will repeal and recast the original MiFID Directive effective January 3, 2017.

The FCA’s revised webpage announces that:

• the FCA will publish its main consultation paper on implementing MiFID II and MiFIR in December 2015; and
• the FCA will publish its final policy statement (incorporating detailed final rules) in June 2016 (leaving only one month before the statutory deadline of July 3, 2016, by which all EU member states must have transposed MiFID II into national rules).

These timeframes will allow firms six months from July 3, 2016, until MiFID II and MiFIR take effect across the European Union to implement any necessary changes (including, for some firms, becoming licensed appropriately (or re-licensed in the case of some firms already operating under MiFID)). The deadline of January 3, 2017, is a hard deadline for implementation of MiFID II and MiFIR, which EU member states have no scope to extend.

For more information, please see the FCA’s new MiFID II webpage here.