The MiFID II regime will have significant ramifications for US investment managers and their use of client commissions to obtain research—especially as cross-border impacts have yet to be addressed by global regulators.
With the January 3, 2018 effective date of the Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFID) II regime looming over EU investment firms, many investment managers are struggling to deal with the changes affecting inducements and research. Some of the most challenging issues include determining the purchase price of research, assigning value to research internally, reconciling the cost of research to multiple clients, determining mechanisms for payment, and the clashing of EU and US regulatory regimes. Absent regulatory relief from either US or EU regulators, conflicts between regulatory regimes could force US broker-dealers to curtail providing research or execution services to covered investment managers. The issues and incompatibilities between the EU and US regimes are extensive and will affect US investment managers in many key ways.