MiFID Is Biggest Financial Change In Europe For A Decade, Says SunGard Survey

MiFID is the biggest change in the European financial services industry for over a decade. Or so suggests a SunGard TradeTech MiFID survey of 230 people from twelve European countries. But the survey suggests the securities industry is divided as

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MiFID is the biggest change in the European financial services industry for over a decade. Or so suggests a SunGard-TradeTech MiFID survey of 230 people from twelve European countries.

But the survey suggests the securities industry is divided as to whether MiFID will be good or bad for Europe’s economy in the next 5-10 years, with 24% viewing MiFID as bad for the economy, 38% viewing it as good and 38% sitting on the fence.

84% of respondents said their firm was on track with its MiFID preparation, with only 12% reporting that their firm had not understood the Directive or was actively opposing it.

“With MiFID we are observing an evolution that is quite rare: total coherence between the technological evolution of the market and the regulatory evolution,” says Amaury de Ternay, the head of global trading at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “Markets will evolve toward a multi-asset class, order-driven model, making it much cheaper to trade and allowing for less friction costs during the execution of trading decisions. Access to the market for investors will be more direct: we are entering a very disinter mediated phase.”

“SunGard is actively engaging with the industry around MiFID and the results of this survey confirm that the next nine months will be a critical time for getting processes in place,” adds Richard Thornton, a partner at SunGard Consulting Services. “As part of our ongoing efforts in this area, we have launched a series of Europe-wide workshops centered around MiFID, where SunGard customers will have the chance to work together with our experts to help define technology requirements for MiFID.”

The survey results were be presented during a panel discussion at SunGard’s FINANZ-TAG in Frankfurt’s Villa Kennedy, by Richard Thornton, a partner at SunGard Consulting Services.

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