The deadline approaches. The firms in pole position to benefit from the Market in Financial Services Directive (MiFID) will be those that have their client and market strategies allied to an understanding of the changes to their operating model. Their budget and resources will have been allocated to business development that exploits the directive’s created opportunities. The losers will be those that are slow to react or seek only to tick the compliance box.

The winners will exploit the opportunities that result from the creation of the single European financial market. Additional gains for some firms will come through the increased ease of passporting services. The winners will be the firms that are most able to adapt to the continuously changing relationships between their data providers and liquidity providers whilst outmanoeuvring the competition. This is will attract increased order flow/funds to manage.

Preparation is critical. Achieving compliance will make demands on resources and budgets, but the requirements are clearer than they were. The new challenge is positioning the firm to exploit the disruption to the market that will occur following MiFID.

Download the MiFID Directive and Market Disruption White Paper