Meet on MIFID

Typing in 'MIFID' and 'seminar' on Google yields a nice search result of 72,000 hits. Even the term "mifid for dummies" still provides 682 results. So, it's safe to assume that anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with the upcoming MIFID II regulation can do so.

The scope of MIFID is very broad though and the busy managers in this industry are mostly interested in the effects it has on their specific business. We've therefore done a little bit of digging what is currently being organized in the Netherlands and to which segment it caters.

First (not that I'm biased at all), there is good old Eurex. Eurex members are frequently invited to the breakfast sessions they organize. They keep their membership base up to speed on the regulations, the efforts Eurex makes to provide feedback to the rule makers and provide practical insights on how it affects their business. The next session is planned for the 20th of November and interested members can contact their Eurex account manager.

Second, there is Norton Rose Fulbright, an international law firm with a good presence in the Netherlands. They have the MIFIDII academy and planned a number of sessions on specific topics. Last week they kicked off the sessions talking about Best Execution under MIFID in cooperation with TOM. The next session will be held at 17 November and will discuss Transparency and Transaction Reporting. On 1 December they will handle Algorithmic Trading and Direct Market Access and on 15 December they will talk about the definitions and exemptions of commodities under MIFID. Interesting sessions by a well informed party. Free registration for market professionals can be done via this link.  The UK branch of Norton Rose Fulbright opted to go for webinars instead, covering roughly the same topics. Registering for these can be done via this link. 

Accountant EY is also holding a session on 17 November, dubbed EYE on Asset Management. This session, geared to Institutional Investors, Asset Managers, accountants, controllers and board members of financial firms looks at the strategic choices participants have to make in order to be ready for a changing environment. More information can be found here. 

The FIA/EPTA, the organization representing European Principal Traders has no known events planned in the Netherlands. FIA Europe however does have several events in London on MIFID accessible to members informing on a range of topics such as  commodities, micro structures, transparency and indirect clearing. These sessions can be found here.

And finally there is the Association of Proprietary Traders (APT). In June the APT organized a lively information session in cooperation with the Dutch Central Bank and Dutch regulator AFM for their members and potential members. They will follow up on that session early next year with a more 'hands on' session providing practical guidance for their members on the MIFID implications and how they can prepare themselves. The APT mostly operates far out of the limelight but they have taken an active role in providing feedback to regulators on MIFIDII. Now that they will provide useful handles for proprietary traders in implementing MIFIDII, a consideration of being a member of APT is warranted.