[ I N D E P T H | M I F I D I I ]
“ We estimate that under MiFID, we will capture some 30-35 million transaction reports a day, up from 20 million before its introduction”
ANDREW BAILEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY
through efficiently and it is being reported properly. I can’ t imagine that process has gone smoothly for anyone because we have heard that the test environments were available very late.”
It’ s not just market participants that are cognisant of the current issues around reporting and what needs to be addressed in future. Speaking at an event held by the International Capital Market Association in early March, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority( FCA), Andrew Bailey, said the effects of MiFID II will only play out in full over a period of time, and that there was still more to do on implementation, particularly on reporting.
“ A key challenge for firms in implementation was the expanded transaction reporting requirements,” he said.“ These involved a step change in both the volume and quality of data we receive regarding transactions taking place in the market.
“ The FCA, alongside ESMA, undertook extensive technological work to be ready to receive, interrogate and ultimately learn from this dataset. We estimate that under MiFID, we will capture some 30-35 million transaction reports a day, up from 20 million before its introduction. There is a determination on our part to exploit the full possibilities of these data to support our efforts to deter, detect and punish market abuse.”
While Bailey warned that the regulator would not be showing forbearance to firms that prove incompliant with MiFID II, it’ s clear that the FCA is aware of the scale of the challenge firms are grappling with, even with the years-long lead time the industry has had to prepare.
Since the 3 January implementation date, the FCA has made several moves to bolster up its oversight of MiFID II. In mid-February the regulator launched a request for input from the industry, looking to review how technology can help firms to better meet reporting requirements and improve the overall quality of the data submitted, on the back of its two-week‘ TechSprint’ which resulted in proof-of-con-
38 // TheTrade // Spring 2018