MiFID III is ‘further away than many might expect’ says MEP Swinburne

Swinburne highlights access, competition and consolidated tape as areas for improvement with existing MiFID II regulations.

Financial services firms have been told not to fear MiFID III by MiFID II author and MEP Kay Swinburne, who added the regulation is further away than many believe.

MiFID II came into force in January 2018 and was one of the most demanding regulations market participants have dealt with. Since then, revisions have been touted along with rumours of a forthcoming MiFID III.

Swinburne, known across the industry for her work on putting together MiFID II, has now said that any updates will be more about refinement and realignment as opposed to a re-write, and concerned with removing inconsistencies.

“We shouldn’t fear MiFID III when it comes,” said Swinburne, speaking at the InvestOps conference in London. “It will not be on the same scale as MiFID II.”

The MEP highlighted the three areas which can be improved as access, consolidated tape and competition as new entrants arrive.

She added that much discussion has gone into how to reconcile with other regulations such as GDPR with the data retention requirement in MiFID. Swinburne believes those moves will likely be introduced as separate amendments.

At an event held by The TRADE in March, just 3% of delegates believed regulators would introduce MiFID III in the near future, while at the same time, 63% of the audience said they expect small changes to certain aspects of the rules.

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