The much-anticipated second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) has launched across Europe, despite both the UK and Germany granting last-minute extensions to futures exchanges ICE Futures Europe, the London Metal Exchange and Eurex.

The aim of the new regulation is to increase transparency and increase investor protection to avoid another financial crisis. Firms dealing in shares, bonds, commodities and derivatives must now report detailed information on transactions.

Just 11 of the EU’s 28 member states have fully written MiFID II into their national law, with the European securities and markets authority (ESMA) stating that firms can continue despite their home state not completing the legislative process.

ICE Futures Europe and the London Metal Exchange have been handed a 30-month extension to comply with rules related to trading and clearing, while Frankfurt-based Eurex was given a similar extension by the German national regulator.

Commenting on MiFID II’s launch, Sophie Guibaud, vice president of European expansion at Fidor Bank, said: “This regulation, along with the incoming GDPR piece of legislation, means that financial organisations will be looking at immediate options to help them decrease their regulatory risk and costs, while also improving the customer experience this year.”

“The new regulations will have a huge effect as financial organisations’ relationships with regulators will rely upon real-time data to be shared to improve and speed up risk management and market stability, all through the power of APIs.”

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