SEC grants welcome reprieve to US sell-side firms on MiFID II research rules

EU-US clash

US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed today it would be granting broker-dealers temporary "no action relief" from a regulatory clash with Europe's MiFID II regulations, calming industry fears that UK investment firms could be cut off from US research when the legislation comes into force in January 2018.

Global regulators have been slow to provide answers as to how firms will access research from countries where the sale of research is prohibited, such as the US, when the European legislation specifically forbids sell-side firms from providing ‘free research'. BofA strikes out with MiFID II research solution However the SEC, whose rules currently forbid US broker-dealers from receiving payments for research unless registered as an investment adviser, has said that "on a temporary basis" the sell-side may "receive research payments from money managers in hard dollars or from advisory c...