Brussels, 24/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 21 March, Piia-Noora Kauppi (EPP-ED, Finland) submitted a draft regulation on a draft Commission regulation and a draft Commission directive on implementing measures for Directive 2004/39/CE on Markets in Financial Instruments (the MiFID Directive) to the EP's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Ieke van den Burg (PES, the Netherlands), Pervenche Beres (PES, France), President of the Committee, and Alexander Radwan (EPP-ED, Germany) queried the legal value of the explanatory statement published on the web by the European Commission when it unveiled the draft legislation back in February (see EUROPE 9125). The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee will be organising a special meeting to consider the issue.
Piia-Noora Kauppi said that overall the European Commission's proposals were balanced and no major amendment were required concerning it structure. She said that in terms of the draft regulation, there were huge differences in Member States' legislation on data and transaction storage and called for no changes to be made despite a difference in the way stakeholders are treated. On the draft directive, the rapporteur wanted clarifications about the concept of 'at best implementation' of orders and called for different rules when companies act on their own behalf from when they act for clients.
David Wright, Director of Financial Services at the European Commission, said huge prudence was required with regards to amendments since balance had to be maintained between investor protection and ensuring a competitive, open market. He said he was concerned about amendments on 'at best' implementation of orders because the Commission says it is essential for investors for their orders to be processed one after the other. Wright said the Committee believes investment companies should not accept financial or other incentives, but the rapporteur on the other hand, has considered the burden of proof in this field. Due to lack of time, Pervenche Beres asked the European Commission to respond in writing to MEPs' queries about the legal status of the explanatory note.
The MiFID is the flagship directive of the EU's financial services action plan, currently being revised to change the implementation date (see EUROPE 8975 and 9096).