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18 May 2007
Governments Fail Business One More Time To people outside the financial industry, a MiFID might sound like a kind of
bionic aphid, but in fact the EU's Markets in Financial Instruments Directive
(no, no, don't click away just yet) is going to bring about the biggest shake-up
in Europe's investment sector since the abolition of exchange controls.
Once MiFID comes into action in November, any seller of investments in the
EU and the EEA (including stocks, bonds, futures, derivatives, or anything else
tradeable) will be able to use a MiFID 'passport' to sell anywhere in the whole
area under 'home' country legislation (home = where the seller is registered),
but subject to strict transparency and 'best execution' rules.
The legislation was supposed to be in place as of 1st January this year in
all EU countries. Now, without cheating (don't look ahead!) guess which are
the only two EU states which have actually implemented MiFID.
OK, you got the UK. Bet you didn't get Romania, though. All the other 28 EU
and EEA states have failed, so far. Most of them have hardly even tried. What
would you think of that if you were an investment seller in France, Italy or
Sweden, for instance? On 1st November, every stock-broker in London and Bucharest
(OK, just trying to be fair) can sell ETFs to your clients; but you can't sell
anything to their clients, because your government and financial regulator are
too lazy or too thick to have realized what they had to do.
Mind you, you can sue your government in the European Court of Justice for
all your lost profits. That should be fun!
You have been
reading an entry on the following blog:
Penelope Wise Penny Wise but not Pound Foolish! But remember: I am not offering investment advice. My comments are just for your general information; I do not recommend investments, and you should take professional advice before entering any investment contract. Penelope blogs on investment and financial services around the world: mainstream and alternative. Contact: penelopewiser@hotmail.co.uk
More
entries from this blog:
02 December 2007 Please Turn Out The Lights As You Leave The report that no fewer than 3.8 million British and Irish own overseas properties
means that a ...
23 September 2007 Caveat Emptor? Another bunch of investors have had their fingers burned after investing in
hedge funds based ap ...
16 September 2007 No More Fat Cat Investments For Me! The news that Hannover Re is thinking of moving its base from highly-taxed
Germany to lightly-ta ...
26 August 2007 To Buy Or Not To Buy? On investorsoffshore.com an adviser is singing the praises of overseas property
investment, but ...
05 August 2007 Don't Have A Foreign Boy-Friend! Brussels stands for 'ever closer union', but a court ruling that came into
force across Europe l ...
09 March 2008 Goodbye To Privacy
These last two weeks have seen the 'offshore' tax haven of Liechtenstein in
the pillory for tryi...
20 February 2008 Panama Today, Tomorrow And Always
This Christmas season 2007 everyone is asking: What is happening in Panama?
Every single hotel...
03 January 2008 Another Nail In The Currency Coffin
Two more countries join the mighty euro while the dollar slumps ever further
into the shadows an...
02 December 2007 Please Turn Out The Lights As You Leave
The report that no fewer than 3.8 million British and Irish own overseas properties
means that a...
23 September 2007 Caveat Emptor?
Another bunch of investors have had their fingers burned after investing in
hedge funds based ap...
16 September 2007 No More Fat Cat Investments For Me!
The news that Hannover Re is thinking of moving its base from highly-taxed
Germany to lightly-ta...
09 September 2007 Flat Tax, Not Flat Earth, Please!
Why is it that trade unions, especially European ones, seem to be stuck in
a 19th century econom...
Penelope Wise
Penny Wise but not Pound Foolish! But remember: I am not offering investment advice. My comments are just for your general information; I do not recommend investments, and you should take professional advice before entering any investment contract.
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