MiFID II and MiFIR : Stricter Rules for the EU Financial Markets

On 3 January 2018 – some ten years later – the MiFID regime will be replaced by MiFID II, which comprises, among other things, a directive (MIFID II), the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and a truly impressive number of implementing measures, commonly referred to as level 2 legislation. MiFID may have the reputation of being strict, but MiFID II/MiFIR tightens the reins even more. It is not hard to guess the reason: the financial crisis has also revealed gaps in the MiFID legislation, notably in investor protection, as well as shortcomings in the functioning and transparency of financial markets. This paper is confined to an assessment of the main changes to financial markets regulation