ESMA Chair Outlines Rulemaking Authority and Implementation of MiFID II 

A recent speech by Steven Maijoor, chair of the European Securities and Markets Association (ESMA), at the Financial News 20th Anniversary Awards for Excellence, European Finance, 1996-2016, offered a recap of ESMA’s recent efforts to develop rules for E.U. member states with a view to minimizing risk. Maijoor described the processes and procedures through which ESMA and the European Commission (EC) have worked out the pending revisions of the E.U. Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (commonly referred to as “MiFID II”). Maijoor delivered a second speech to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, in which he provided a more detailed and technical analysis of the status of MiFID II implementation. Maijoor’s remarks provide valuable insight to hedge fund managers about the relative authority of ESMA and the implementation and anticipated revisions to MiFID II, which affect transparency, position limits and derivatives trading. This article highlights the salient points from his two speeches. For coverage of Maijoor’s 2015 annual statement to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, see “ESMA Chair Highlights Upcoming Focus on Supervisory Convergence” (Oct. 1, 2015). For analysis of a recent speech Maijoor delivered to the Asian Financial Forum, see “ESMA Chair Calls for Increased Transparency and Regulatory Convergence As Interest Rates Rise” (Jan. 28, 2016).

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