The new European Union Directive MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) has arrived, however some countries and markets are still in transition to become compliant. "Is your organisation ready?"

A survey undertaken on behalf of the MiFID Joint Working Group (JWG) found that more than two-thirds of London-based investment firms are possibly lacking a framework for complying with the Directive. Failure to fulfill the requirements of the legislation could result in sanctions, closure of niche business or in extreme cases, suspension from trading.

Achieving compliance, on the other hand, offers the prospect for creating new business opportunities as well as providing a competitive advantage over rivals.

London Market Systems has been actively involved with various working groups assessing the impact of the Directive and has provided recommendations as to how to resolved some of the complex issues it raises.

Effective data management is key to being able to meet the record keeping and regulatory reporting requirements laid down by MiFID. It is our belief that MiFID necessitates the use of industry standards from every aspect from security, venue, counterparty identification through to the delivery mechanism for reporting to the Competent Authorities. LMS is a member of FIX, FISD/SIIA (owner of MDDL, the XML Market Data standard) and is currently involved with the evaluation of the Pre-Trade and Trade ISO 20022 submission as part of the ISO 20022 Securities SEG (Standards Evaluation Group). All of these messaging standards have the capability to delivery the record keeping, transaction processing and reporting requirements of MIFID.

Martin Sexton
London Market Systems Limited
68 Lombard Street
London EC3V 9LJ
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 20 7397 3350
Fax: +44 20 7397 3351

Email: msexton@londonmarketsystems.com