From MiFID to UCITS: Overhauling Europe’s Securities Markets

While the Dodd-Frank industry overhaul remains largely stalled in the U.S., Europe’s financial services sector continues to steam ahead with a wide range of regulatory reforms that will significantly reshape the competitive landscape for European asset managers. None is more important than the review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID II.

In the January-February issue of CFA Magazine, Rhodri Preece, CFA, director of capital markets policy at CFA institute, examines the MiFID legislative package that puts transparency at the forefront with ambitious proposals to shed light on trading in practically all financial instruments.

Among those impacted: structured Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds, which face potential reclassification as “complex” products under MiFID. In the same issue of CFA Magazine, Agnes Le Thiec, CFA, director of capital markets policy at CFA Institute, explores whether UCITS have grown too complex for retail investors.