We understand there is still some confusion ...

I think this direct quote from one of the template MiFID letters being sent by clients to their brokers is a slight understatement! With only a few hours to go before the MiFID gun fires, a massive paperchase is still underway in financial institutions around Europe and beyond. Scanned versions of consent forms with hand written updates are flooding into inboxes. The end result is significant ambiguity around the exact terms of these relationships from tomorrow. Along with this confusion comes nervousness - MiFIDitis as someone has coined it - which also generates alternate fits of extreme boredom and hyper-activity. In terms of functional preparation it is well known that some firms are well prepared and others are struggling for basic compliance - there are reports of a European bank that won't be able to MiFID transaction report. From tomorrow we will learn whether MiFIDitis is merely like a heavy cold that will pass in time, or a pandemic that only the strongest will survive.