Warning FCA will not 'create a floor' below MiFID II standards

Promises "proportionality" for firms that have taken "sufficient steps"

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, has warned the regulator will not "create a floor below" full MiFID II compliance standards for firms failing to make the necessary preparations to meet the January 2018 implementation deadline.

Speaking at the AFME European Compliance and Legal Conference 2017 on Wednesday, Steward said the FCA was likely to take a firmer stance towards firms which "have made no real or genuine attempt to be ready or where key obligations are deliberately flouted". Pressure builds on platforms for urgent solutions to MiFID II '10% rule' as deadline looms However, for firms that have made the necessary preparations, Steward said the FCA intended to "act proportionately", meaning it would "not take a strict liability approach especially given the size, complexity and magnitude of the changes t...