Multi-speed MiFID Europe: FSA goes for the chequered flag

© FSA Compliance Consultants Ltd 2007. Mazhar Manzoor is Managing Director of FSA Compliance Consultants Ltd and can be contacted on tel: +44 (0)845 450 7222 or email: enquiries@fs-a.com; website: www.fs-a.com. He is a regulatory compliance practitioner assisting clients in money laundering and fraud prevention and all areas of Financial Services Authority regulation including preparations for EU led changes such as the Market in Financial Instruments Directive and the Capital Requirements Directive. He also runs compliance, risk and money laundering training workshops in the Middle East.

The EU’s Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is expected to have far-reaching consequences when it comes into effect on 1 November 2007 and yet a multi-speed Europe makes it likely that the Directive will not have been implemented in many member states even though the Investment Services Directive will been have been repealed. Discussion also continues around the remit of home and host regulators among other cross-border complexities that need to be watched and carefully managed if your firm is to capitalise fully on the promised opportunities. Mazhar Manzoor of FSA Compliance Consultants Ltd takes a look at the next steps for FSA-authorised firms.