Financial firms hit out at short deadline to assess impact of key Mifid regulations
FEARS have been raised over the short window of opportunity for European rulemakers to assess industry concerns over the formation of new regulations proposing sweeping reforms to equity market structures such as “dark pools” and high-frequency trading.
Hundreds of submissions voicing fears over the impact of the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) were sent to the European Commission yesterday, amid concerns over a rushed process.
Officials say the submissions will now be processed in time to form legislative proposals due in the spring – a timeframe which insiders say could hamper the ability of the commission to digest the points being made.
Chief executive of the Futures and Options Association Anthony Belchambers said: “There’s no point in consulting and no point in industry spending time and resources on this if it’s going to end up in the waste paper bin.”
However, senior adviser at the International Capital Market Association John Serocold urged the European Commission to work closely with industry to iron out potential concerns. He said: “We have to go on working with Brussels to improve these proposals” A spokesperson for the European Commission said more responses than usual had been received “because of the wide scope of issues that Mifid touches”.