The EU has published MiFID II in the Official Journal (OJ) following more than two and a half years of consultation and negotiation.

Publication in the OJ sets the date on which MiFID II enters into force as 2 July 2014.
 
The rules enter into effect 30 months later, meaning that all EU firms undertaking investment business or providing investment services to clients must be fully compliant with MiFID II by 2 January 2017.
 
Crispian Lord, financial services risk and regulatory partner at PwC, says: “Although final detailed rules will not be available until the end of 2015, firms should not postpone implementation. Some firms are already considering the impact of the new rules on their business model and have begun initial gap analysis as a prelude to developing their full implementation strategy. Regulators expect MiFID firms to be aware of the impending changes. With advanced warning of a single go-live date, they are less likely to show firms the same degree of forbearance towards implementation challenges that we have seen with other recent regulatory changes.”
 
Laura Cox, financial services risk and regulatory partner at PwC, says: “The ‘Level 1’ text sets out the high level rules. Detailed ‘Level 2’ rules (Delegated Acts and Technical Standards) will be developed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Commission (EC) over the next 18 months. Firms should ensure that they stay alert to further developments in this process.”