What are the extended Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) requirements?

The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is the framework of European Union (EU) legislation for:

• investment intermediaries that provide services to clients around shares, bonds, units in collective investment schemes and derivatives (collectively known as ‘financial instruments’)
• the organised trading of financial instruments

MiFID applied in the UK from November 2007, and was revised by MiFID II, which took effect in January 2018, to improve the functioning of financial markets in light of the financial crisis and to strengthen investor protection.  MiFID II extended the MiFID requirements in a number of areas including:

• new market structure requirements
• new and extended requirements in relation to transparency
• new rules on research and inducements
• new product governance requirements for manufacturers and distributers of MiFID ‘products’
• introduction of a harmonised commodity position limits regime

Level 1

MiFID II is made up of MiFID (2014/65/EU) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR - 600/2014/EU). 

• Directive 2014/65/EU on MiFID II (link is external)(link is external), repealing Directive 2004/39/EC
• Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 on markets in financial instruments (link is external)(link is external) (MiFIR)

As an EU regulation, MiFIR is binding in its entirety and directly applicable, its content becomes law in the UK without the need for domestic legislative intervention. 

Level 2

MiFID II enables the European Commission to make secondary legislation in several places. That legislation takes the form of a combination of delegated acts, regulatory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS). These can be accessed on the European Commission’s website(link is external).