Almost two thirds of firms not confident about meeting MiFID II deadline

New survey also revealed the majority of the industry expects compliance costs to double by 2020.

A significant 64% of financial institutions have said they are unsure or not confident about meeting the January 2018 compliance deadline, according to a new survey.

The poll of 200 senior financial services professionals carried out by corporate finance advisory firm, Duff & Phelps, revealed just 36% of firms are confident on meeting the MiFID II deadline.

A further 54% said they were unsure on meeting compliance, while 10% stated they were not confident on whether they would meet the deadline.

It found 89% of the asset managers, brokers and banks surveyed believe regulation is increasing costs and compliance spend could more than double by 2020.

The report said firms are now not jut counting costs of regulatory implementation, but also costs of hiring compliance staff, regulatory penalties and remediation in case of failures.

Julian Korek, global head of compliance and regulatory consulting at Duff & Phelps, explained the way institutions are allocating compliance budgets is changing.

“Skyrocketing costs mean that firms have had to decide which regulations to prioritise, meaning that some will miss the already extended MiFID II deadline.

“More guidance is needed from the regulator about how firms should allocate their time and money when complying with regulation, especially as the cost of Brexit, changes in US policy and cybercrime continue to emerge,” he said. 

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