ESMA LETTER TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON MIFID II/MIFIR THIRD-COUNTRY REGIMES
01/10/2018
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has written to the European Commission in relation to additional issues concerning some MiFID II/MiFIR requirements on investor protection and intermediaries. The letter is a follow-up to an earlier letter concerning some MIFID II/MIFIR requirements regarding trading venues.
The letter highlights a number of items, which are relevant in the context of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, in particular:
- Concerns regarding the MiFIR regime for third country firms providing investment services and activities to eligible counterparties and per se professional clients;
- Concerns regarding the MiFID II regime for third country firms providing investment services and activities to retail and professional clients on request;
- Third country firms providing investment services and activities at the exclusive initiative of EU clients (reverse solicitation); and
- Investment firms outsourcing critical or important functions other than those related to portfolio management to third country providers.