MiFID guidance "not good enough"

With just over three months to go until the deadline for MiFID compliance, the world's financial institutions are grumbling about the quality of support they have received from regulators.

According to a report from financial software specialist SunGard and research house TradeTech, 51 per cent of the 300 organisations surveyed think regulators are either "bad" or "very bad" at helping them get ready for the directive.

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In the UK, 46 per cent of respondents thought the FSA's minimal-guidance approach to MiFID compliance makes it difficult to understand exactly what the FSA requires of them.

Despite this dissatisfaction with the help on offer, it appears FS organisations are muddling through. The survey found 53 per cent of respondents believed that they were on or ahead of schedule to achieve compliance by the November deadline.

This compared with 34 per cent in September 2006. However many organisations believe they are just going through the motions to please regulators, with less than half expecting MiFID to have a positive impact on Europe's economies in the next 10 years.