Yesterday the Council of the European Union published the long-awaited texts for MiFID II and MiFIR as agreed by the Council and the Parliament on 14th January. Whilst the texts are still subject to ECON and Plenary votes in March and April, and the Commission has some outstanding concerns about the derivatives rules, it’s likely we will all have to implement the rules outlined in these 700 pages in the coming years.

The new legislation will apply from some time in late 2016 – the exact date pending publication in the official journal after April’s Plenary vote. The next step is for ESMA to deliver the Level 2 texts. In its latest work programme ESMA identified more than 100 separate documents, covering regulatory and implementing technical standards, technical advice and guidelines and recommendations. ESMA has to deliver a good share of these documents within 12 months of MiFID II / MiFIR entering into force, while the rest may be even later.

The extent of the implementation work will only be known once all the details are finalised, but one thing is certain – the new regulations will bring significant change to the industry and every single firm will have to put its nose to the grindstone to keep on top of it all.