With just over three months left before the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) comes into force, just eight of the 27 EU member states have implemented the directive into national law.
The directive has been introduced into domestic law by the UK, Romania, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France and Luxembourg, according to the European Commission (EC).
EU states were legally bound to introduce MiFID into national law by the end of January to give market participante time to prepare their systems and organisations ahead of the 1st November start date.
But the EC's Web site shows that the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary and the Netherlands will not implement MiFID until November. Greece and Spain will be even later in adopting the directive.
Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, which are not members of the EU, will have complied with MiFID in October.
Earlier this year EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy threatened infringement proceedings against member states that are slow to implement MiFID.
In March McCreevy wrote to the Ministers of Finance concerned expressing "deep concern" and warning that the delays could endanger the proper functioning of MiFID for cross-border servicing.
This raises the risk that member states could face legal action by private parties who might claim damages for losses incurred because of late implementation of national legislation, said McCreevy.