Close to 50 per cent of investment managers and consultants surveyed at Northern Trust’s (Nasdaq: NTRS) annual Regulatory and Depositary conference cited client reporting as the greatest implementation challenge presented by MiFID II.
The survey of more than 100 attendees at the annual London event held in November focused on the regulatory demands faced by fund managers who noted further MiFID II challenges including: transaction and transparency reporting (approximately 20 per cent); inducements and research (approximately 20 per cent) and updating client documentation (approximately 15 per cent).
“The level of focus on client reporting was no surprise to us,” says Robert Angel (pictured), head of regulatory solutions at Northern Trust. “The transaction cost calculation disclosures contained within the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) are complex and will require ongoing work, even now post implementation, not only from institutional entities, but also from regulatory bodies as they look to further rationalise the relevant disclosures.”
In addition to concerns around MiFID II, the survey revealed that 65 per cent of attendees expect the upcoming regulatory environment will demand an increasing amount of their time in 2018, compared to 2017.
“Whilst it’s surprising the effort spent by the industry on regulatory compliance is expected to increase, MiFID II will require ongoing efforts for the duration of 2018,” says Angel. “In addition, GDPR is fast approaching and with many fund managers focused on other regulatory change, the significance and work required for GDPR is likely to only being focused on now.”
Northern Trust provides depositary, custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, and regulatory solutions to investment managers across the globe and across the spectrum of asset classes. Northern Trust hosts regular events on regulatory topics which aim to help clients understand regulatory change. This is a key aspect of Northern Trust’s ongoing strategy to support and remain close to its clients.
