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☆ Coinbase is planning a pivotal acquisition that will allow it to launch crypto derivatives in the EU
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. cryptocurrency exchange told CNBC exclusively that it entered into an agreement to buy an unnamed holding company which owns a MiFID II license. The EU updated the legislation in 2017 to address criticism that it was too focused on stocks and didn't consider other asset classes, like fixed income, derivatives and currencies. If and when Coinbase completes the deal, the move would mark the first launch of derivatives trading by the company in the EU. With a MiFID II license, Coinbase will be able to begin offering regulated derivatives, like futures and options, in the EU. "This license would help expand access to our derivatives products by allowing Coinbase to offer them to eligible European customers in select countries across the EU," Coinbase said in a blog post, which was shared exclusively with CNBC on Friday.

Persons: Leon Neal, Getty, MiFID, Coinbase Organizations: European Union, CNBC, EU Locations: ENGLAND, London, England, U.S, EU, bitcoin

Traders work on the floor of the London Metal Exchange in London, Britain, September 27, 2018. Both explicitly allow for the cancellation of trades "in exceptional cases", which would be a fair description of last year's nickel market meltdown and the resulting threat of multiple member defaults. This is a case of "knowing one when you see one" or "the elephant test" in legal precedent, the judges said. Nor would it have affected Chamberlain's assessment that nickel trading had become irrational and disorderly on the morning of March 8. LME trading has been transformed by the crisis in the form of permanent caps on time-spreads and limits on intraday price movements.

Persons: Simon Dawson, Elliott, Jonathan Swift, Robert Bright, Matthew Chamberlain, Jane Street, Chamberlain, China's, Xiang Guangda, Oliver Wyman, Tsingshan, Barbara Lewis Organizations: London Metal Exchange, REUTERS, London High, Elliott Associates, Jane, Global Trading, Financial, Authority, China's Tsingshan, Reuters, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, U.S

☆ Britain to ease EU rule on charging asset managers for stock picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The five-year old "unbundling" rule is part of an EU securities law known as MiFID II that Britain kept after Brexit. A report headed by Hogan Lovells lawyer Rachel Kent recommends giving the "optionality" to rebundle, given it is allowed on Wall Street, and the EU is also reviewing the rule. The report recommends creating a new research platform to promote, source and distribute research on smaller companies looking to list. "The recommendations in Rachel Kent’s Independent Research Report will be accepted by the Government... It also sets the path for potentially removing the unbundling rules," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Persons: Hogan Lovells, Rachel Kent, Kent, Rachel, Huw Jones, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Union, Britain, Government, Financial, Authority, FCA, Thomson Locations: Britain, London, EU

☆ EU agrees deal on securities rules that includes ban on broker commission
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Thursday that member states and the European Parliament have reached a deal on updating the bloc's "MiFID" securities trading rules. The EU has been reviewing its securities trading rules to reflect advances in trading technology and also the departure of Britain from the bloc, presenting new competition to EU markets. "The agreement reached today imposes a general ban on 'payment for order flow' (PFOF), a practice through which brokers receive payments for forwarding client orders to certain trading platforms," a statement from the EU member states' council said. Under the deal, member states that already allow PFOF will be exempt from the ban provided it is only offered to clients in that member state. The deal, which needs formal rubber-stamping from the full parliament and EU states, also sets up 'consolidated tapes' that would give investors a snapshot of stock and bond prices on markets to help find the best deals.

Persons: Huw Jones, David Evans, Andrew Heavens Organizations: European Union, EU, Thomson Locations: EU

Banks typically provide research to clients as part of a broader offering of services, but that changed when the European Union introduced the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II laws in 2018 to improve transparency. "It took about a year for us to become compliant to MiFID II laws -- it was a long, intense process," said Candace Browning, head of BofA Global Research. U.S. financial firms were initially given an exemption by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which expires on July 3. "Companies continue to face challenges complying with the MiFID II unbundling requirement and U.S. law," said Joe Corcoran, SIFMA's managing director and associate general counsel for capital markets. 'EXPENSIVE AND COMPLICATED' In Europe, asset managers under MiFID II are not allowed to pay for research through broker commissions on trading -- instead, investors are billed separately by banks for research.

Persons: Banks, Candace Browning, Joe Corcoran, SIFMA's, SIFMA, MiFID, Michael Eastwood, Jefferies, Jesse Forster, BofA, salespeople, Browning, Forster, Russell Sacks, Nupur Anand, Lananh Nguyen, Deepa Babington Organizations: YORK, Bank of America Corp, Jefferies Financial, European Union, Financial, BofA Global, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Securities Industry, Financial Markets Association, SEC, Jefferies, Coalition, King, Spalding, Thomson Locations: Europe, U.S, Greenwich, Coalition Greenwich, New York

☆ Exchanges and asset managers square off over EU market rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Stock exchanges and asset managers have squared off ahead of European Union negotiations this week over how much information investors should be given to find the best deals on Europe's fragmented stock markets. The European Parliament and EU states begin negotiations on Tuesday on finalising reform of the bloc's securities rules, known as MiFID, aimed at making its capital market more efficient now that if faces competition from a post-Brexit London. Exchanges, which earn money from market data, say parliament is going beyond transparency to give investors a trading tool. "The inclusion of real-time pre-trade data, as per the European Parliament proposal... would only further distort EU market structure," the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) said in a statement last week. The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) also backs parliament's position, saying liquidity in European stock markets has contracted by 25% since 2013 compared with a 23% rise on U.S. markets, with a number of factors contributing to this.

☆ EU lawmakers set up clash with member states over share trade ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - A panel of European Union lawmakers were set for a clash with member states after they backed a draft law banning brokers from earning fees in return for directing share trades to specific trading platforms. The European Parliament and the EU bloc's 27 member states must now thrash out a joint position that would become law. "A ban of PFOF is a huge disservice to retail clients and to the Capital Markets Union as a whole," said Markus Ferber, a committee member from Germany, where many PFOF brokers are based. The proposed ban is part of a draft law to update the bloc's securities rules known as MiFID. The committee also backed reducing off exchange "dark trading" favoured by big investors to 7% of total trading from 8% at present, and below the 10% which EU states want.

☆ EU states reject ban on 'payment-for-order-flow' share trades
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - European Union member states on Tuesday rejected plans to ban brokers earning fees in return for directing share trades to specific trading platforms, part of a sweeping stock market overhaul to compete better with post-Brexit London. But representatives from EU states on Tuesday rejected a bloc-wide ban. "The regulation leaves a discretion to member states to allow this practice only on their territory," a statement from member states said. EU states will now negotiate a final deal with the European Parliament on updating the securities rules, with further changes likely. Tapes should publish prices of executed trades, together with best bids and offers available at the time of a trade, as well as the European best bid and offers from the most competitive markets, EU states said.

☆ EU wrestles with Payment for Order Flow share trading rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - European Union states edged closer on Thursday to ditching a proposed ban on brokers earning fees in return for directing stock trades to specific trading platforms. The United States is considering whether curbs are needed for PFOF while the UK has already banned it. The EU ban was proposed in a draft law by the EU's executive European Commission updating the bloc's MiFID II securities law, with EU states and the European Parliament having final say. The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) said discussions on PFOF and consolidated tape risk "cementing fragmentation and opacity" in markets. However, Huebner said competitiveness of EU markets is essential given competition from Britain and the United States.

☆ EU proposes matching UK move to boost 'dark' share trading, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Alex GrimmLONDON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A curb on "dark" or off-exchange trading of shares in the European Union should be completely removed to compete better with Britain, EU documents seen by Reuters showed on Friday. The documents set out the latest compromises among EU states on reforming the bloc's "MiFID" securities law to catch up with advances in trading technology and practices in markets. Dark trading currently is subject to two types of caps on volumes, and the European Commission has proposed removing one of them. The Czech Presidency of the EU is proposing the complete removal of the double volume cap, EU documents for meetings next week show. "This will allow for a dynamic and nimble approach, allowing price formation, sufficient transparency and leeway to react to situations within the EU (or in the UK)," the documents said.

☆ UK to set out financial regulation reforms on Friday - Truss
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Toby Melville/PoolLONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Liz Truss said her government will on Friday set out sweeping reforms to the financial service industry to unleash growth and boost investment. Truss said on Tuesday that saying not everything her government does will be "popular", but her priority is reviving the economy. The government also wants to rip up Solvency II rules that, insurers say, inhibit their ability to investing billions of pounds a year into long-term infrastructure projects. The Financial Services and Markets bill, which was introduced to parliament just before the summer recess, provides a mechanism for Solvency II to be replaced. Talk of a drive to eliminate unnecessary regulation has been promised by successive governments, but progress has been slow.

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