According to Tina Wilkinson, of BNP Paribas,” Bringing Europe's fragmented financial services industry together to operate under the same guidelines will be a challenging but worthwhile endeavor.” She was speaking at the International Money Management Institute second annual conference in London. The rules for MiFID (Markets in Financial Investments Directive) are described as expansive and complex designed to create a common language and a set of standards for everything from fee disclosure to fiduciary responsibility to investment suitability. However, they have caused some confusion as well, according to many of the 50 executives attending the conference.

Ms. Wilkinson opines that the regulatory standards will emerge as a key driver in the growth of the financial services industry. "MiFID is a force of good, because it is forcing advisers to become more professional and it is causing them to recreate their business models," she said. "The products in Europe are starting to look similar, which means they can be packaged across Europe, and that creates opportunities for packaging companies." One of the challenges is bringing it all together in a fashion that makes sense to companies and advisers operating in any one of 27 different countries. According to Ms. Wilkinson, the adviser channel is currently growing at more than 8% per year and is expected to represent 20% of Europe’s total assets under management by 2010. Regulatory standards, she said, is driving that trend. "The focus on regulation has helped advisers identify what they should be doing. Regulation is forcing the advisers to consider if an investment is suitable for a client, and it also brings up the issue of transparency and fees."

 

SEC eases Accounting requirements

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