EU lawmakers approve MiFID II market rule delay

Bloomberg

European lawmakers agreed to delay the overhaul of Europe-wide market-rules known as MiFID II by a year in a vote on Thursday in Brussels.
The European Parliament adopted the European Commission’s proposal to postpone the start date for MiFID II, the complex law that affects nearly every financial firm operating in the 28-nation bloc, by a year to 2018 and solidified a position on “targeted amendments” that should be made, including exemptions on certain securities-financing transactions in the law.
“We welcome the delay, but realize the need for further changes,” said Markus Ferber, the lead lawmaker handling the file. “On the legislative level, we need adjustments to smooth out implementation problems.”
The commission originally asked for the delay to allow firms to build data-reporting systems. Lawmakers used the session to encourage the commission to adopt the technical measures needed for MiFID II to work as soon as possible, taking into account the assembly’s concerns.
Lawmakers have been impatient with the pace of work on the market-rules overhaul and continued to warn the commission to speed up or risk derailing the schedule for implementation.
“In Parliament, we have said that our agreement to delay MiFID depends on the commission taking on board all our concerns,” said Neena Gill, a European lawmaker from the U.K.’s Labour Party. Sven Giegold, a Green MEP from Germany, said, “There is a risk for further delays if this is not taken seriously.”