Compliance risk must remain a priority despite early talk of MiFID III

Tweaks in the pipeline?

Just two months after the introduction of MIFID II, fund managers are still reeling from the new requirements and some common areas of compliance risk are already apparent, writes Kavita Patel, head of the investment funds sector at law firm Shakespeare Martineau.

While most are focused on the challenge of implementing the new European standards, early talk of clarifications and tweaks that might already be in the pipeline is welcome. When MiFID II was introduced at the start of the year, the industry quickly realised it was a compromise, which left many unanswered questions in terms of how the far-reaching regulation should be implemented in the UK. While they are designed to increase transparency and protect investors, in some areas it is thought implementing the regulations could end up creating less transparency rather than more. Cost of...