On March 26, 2015, the FCA published a discussion paper on its proposals for implementing the MiFID II conduct of business and organizational requirements. The paper sets out the policy choices available to the FCA in implementing some provisions of MiFID II including: (i) the application of MiFID II to insurance-based investment products and pensions; (ii) the best approach to implementing the extended application of MiFID II's investor protection requirements to the sale of and advice on structured deposits; (iii) whether a ban on discretionary investment management firms accepting commissions and other deposits is appropriate for retail client business; (iv) changing the criteria for local authorities' treatment as elective professional clients; (v) adopting the new requirements for independent advice on shares, bonds, derivatives and structured products; (vi) extending the MiFID II remuneration rules for conduct of business to non-MiFID firms; and (viii) amending the UK approach to recording telephone conversations and electronic communications. The FCA paper also highlights key conduct of business changes that firms will be required to comply with from January 3, 2017. In particular, the types of third party inducements that firms will be able to receive and the classification of products as either non-complex or complex, relevant to the determination of whether the appropriateness test must be applied, are discussed in the FCA paper. The FCA consultation closes on May 26, 2015. The FCA intends to consult fully on implementing the MiFID II requirements in December 2015 and to publish its final rules in June 2016.
The FCA discussion paper is available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/discussion-papers/dp15-03.pdf and an FCA implementation timetable is available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/static/fca/documents/mifid-ii-timeline.pdf.
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