A business-friendly, full scope guide to assist firms to come into compliance with a substantial and complex set of new European-wide regulatory standards is being developed by the Association of Private Client and Investment Managers (APCIMs), the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET), the Futures and Options Association (FOA) and the Wholesale Market Brokers’ Association (WMBA). The EU Regulation Implementation Handbook will be a web-based comprehensive guide covering EMIR, MIFIR/MIFID, MAR/MAD and the related flow of standards and guidance being issued by ESMA (see footnote for details).
The legal work will be carried out by Clifford Chance who have been retained by the associations to develop the Handbook and provide the updating service over an initial two-year term. KPMG will cover operational issues for associations using their services.
The Handbook will:
- apply to all wholesale and retail market-facing products and services and be kept up-to-date over an initial two-year term (and probably longer) to ensure the text is reliable and topical through the cycle of intense regulatory change;
- as the rules become clearer and more detailed, be extended to include implementation checklists, action points and guidance on particular areas of difficulty;
- be supported by a complementary series of implementation workshops on key areas of implementation;
- subject to firms’ needs, be supported by industry standard documentation that will meet the new requirements.
While the trade associations will be responsible for governance of the project, the work will be supported by a practitioner advisory committee, which will be representative of the partnering trade associations and the business lines covered by them.
The Handbook Secretariat is provided by the FOA at 2nd floor, 36-38 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DE (hughess@foa.co.uk; tel 0207 929 0091).
Tim May, CEO, APCIMS, said “The tide of regulation coming from Europe has to be managed and absorbed by all APCIMS members as well as by thousands of other firms in the financial services sector. This is no easy task, especially for smaller firms who will need as much assistance as they can get to avoid being overwhelmed and ensure that they can survive and stay compliant as the often expensive regulatory changes begin to bite. The resource that the new guide will offer will help them and indeed all firms to understand how best to do this in the most cost-efficient manner.”
Karl-Peter Horstmann, Chair of the Market Supervision Task Force of EFET, said “EFET welcomes this Handbook because it will take into account the specific implementation needs of energy commodity market participants”.
Anthony Belchambers, CEO of FOA, said “Whether you are a small brokerage house struggling to implement the biggest regulatory change agenda for a generation or are a major investment bank, simply looking to check your own internal change programme, this Handbook, in covering the whole of the EU regulatory change agenda, should provide a valued benchmark for firms in terms of coming into compliance with all the new rules and required processes on a timely and comprehensive basis.”
Alexander McDonald, CEO of WMBA, said “Given the complexities of the interactions of each of the new European legislations especially with their application in respect of other regulation coming into force outside the region, this standardised approach to implementation is welcome across the European financial services sector”.