Brussels, 26/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 26 October, the European Parliament endorsed a draft report by Markus Ferber (EPP, Germany) on the MiFID II legislative package updating EU rules on financial instruments (see EUROPE 10698 and 10718). The rapporteur welcomed what he described as a solid negotiating mandate for informal talks with the EU Council of Ministers, which might lead to agreement in principle next month.
The most symbolic measure in the report is high-frequency trading (HTF), and here the Parliament goes further than the Commission because it wants key players on the HTF market (which accounts for 40% of all financial transactions in Europe) to keep their orders before trading them again for at least half a second. “That way, purely speculative business with high-frequency transactions will become unattractive,” said Ferber.
MEPs have tightened up the consumer-protection measures by requiring operators to offer consumers products that match their needs, but they reject the Commission's idea of banning commission payments for agents advising and managing portfolios. “There will be no prohibition of premiums. Member states, however, must ensure that premiums are either passed on to the client or made fully transparent,” said Ferber, but EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said that simply requiring publication of commission payments for intermediaries will not provide enough investor protection or independence. This concern is echoed by the director general of the European consumer group umbrella group (BEUC), Monique Goyens, who commented: “MEPs have missed a golden opportunity to put an end to wide-scale mis-selling of financial products.” She added that the UK, the Netherlands and Finland have already introduced measures to combat mis-selling.
In order to combat commodity speculation, the Parliament has introduced caps on raw materials commodity ownership, while allowing non-financial companies to continue to hedge their bets against price fluctuations. (MB/transl.fl)