MiFID2: EU Commission proposes to delay application by one year

The EU Commission has published a proposal to extend the application date of MiFID2 by one year to 3 January 2018. The proposal takes the form of a draft Directive amending MiFID2 and draft Regulation amending MiFIR as regards certain dates. The proposed Regulation also sets out measures to address the consequences of changing the date of application of MiFID2 on the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR).

The proposals are intended to address exceptional technical implementation challenges faced by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), national competent authorities (NCAs) and market participants in relation to data collection, reporting and the transparency threshold calculation. They are also intended to avoid legal uncertainty and potential market disruption. The proposals set out an extension of the application for the entire MiFID2/R package, rather than a staggered approach, which the Commission views as necessary and justified in order to avoid possible confusion and costs to stakeholders.