MiFID II's First Day Comes Off Without Glitches, Regulator Says

(Bloomberg) -- The first day of MiFID II for European Union markets wasn't quite the disaster many in the financial industry had predicted, according to the bloc's top markets regulator.

“What we can see for our part is no glitches so far,” Steven Maijoor, head of the European Securities and Markets Authority, told journalists on Wednesday. “Obviously in the coming days, the coming weeks, we'll get more information on the start of MiFID.”

The revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive was introduced as part of the EU's response to the financial crisis. It aims to push trading on to regulated venues, increase market transparency, curb speculation on commodities, adapt EU rules to new technologies such as high-frequency trading and boost investor protections.

Industry critics have long complained that the law is too complex and overreaches in areas such as price transparency.

“For us the key element is that in the course of today's rules for the first time we see data of all financial instruments in the EU, the so-called reference data,” Maijoor said. “It will be the first time that we have the ability in the EU to have a complete overview of all financial instruments.”

To contact the reporter on this story: John Glover in London at johnglover@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Patrick Henry at phenry8@bloomberg.net.

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