Capital Markets Advisors

MiFID II includes both pre-trade transparency and best execution requirements. While commendable, though, these goals may create a very difficult situation for both customers and dealers: If regulators focus on pre-trade transparency, best execution will probably suffer; if they focus on best execution, transparency will probably suffer. In the rather picaresque story of MiFID II, it often looks as if each requirement has had its own wandering life, evolving independently… Read More »

Despite regulators’ goal of harmonizing global financial regulations, regional differences persist, and with the implementation of MiFID II in Europe, confusion is likely to intensify. George Bollenbacher, partner, Capital Markets Advisors, outlines the jurisdictional questions surrounding MiFID II and explores how the rules could impact both EU and non-EU entities. Speaking with TABB Group founder and CEO Larry Tabb, Bollenbacher discusses the uncertainties around MiFID II’s enforceability and the potential… Read More »

There are three parameters that govern the applicability – and thus the requirements – of various parts of MiFID II to market participants. But complicated criteria means crossing EU borders can be a dangerous process. George Bollenbacher provides some guidance on when and to whom MiFID II rules apply and highlights three trends that are likely to emerge as a result. In a previous article, I addressed some of MiFID’s… Read More »

MiFID 2 and MiFIR appear to offer inconsistent and sometimes contradictory definitions of third-country firms, creating regulatory uncertainty and forcing firms to ask some difficult questions about their business in Europe. As the MiFID “D-Day” gets ever closer, certain aspects of the rules and endless RTSs start to come into sharper focus. Among those is the role, and perhaps plight, of what MiFID calls “third-country firms.” MiFID defines this category… Read More »

Monday, October 19th, 2015 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER Tucked away in Article 27 of MiFID 2 is a potentially disruptive requirement – the ‘Obligation to execute orders on terms most favorable to the client.’ Unfortunately, what constitutes best execution, and when the rules apply, aren’t clear. As a result, there are 5 tasks investment firms must tackle before MiFID 2 becomes effective at the end of 2016. Tucked away in Article… Read More »

Wednesday, October 7th, 2015 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER The industrial world has entered a new economic era, and the transition has rendered much of monetary policy largely irrelevant. The Fed has pumped out multiple trillions of dollars since 2008, with no verifiable evidence that the flow had any commensurate impact on economic growth. And now that it is considering tightening monetary policy, we should expect significantly more unrest. While the current… Read More »

Last week, regulators released their joint report on the Oct. 15, 2014, Treasury Flash Crash. One of the hot topics of discussion has been the prominent role of “PTFs” in the report. So what is a PTF? TABB Group founder and CEO Larry Tabb and George Bollenbacher, partner, Capital Markets Advisors, examine the report, including the definition of a PTF, or a principal trading firm, and how they impact the… Read More »

Thursday, July 23rd, 2015 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER Much has been written about the impact of regulation on the fixed income and derivatives markets, but market forces also are transforming the space. How are the fixed income and derivatives markets evolving, what is driving the changes, and how can the buy side cope? Ever since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and EMIR, and with the looming implementation of MiFIR/MiFID, there… Read More »

Friday, July 10th, 2015 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER With the impending capital requirements of Basel III in most jurisdictions, banks throughout the world have taken advantage of capital relief trades that allow them to use credit default swaps to alter the risk characteristics of loans on their books. But what impact will this have on the risk profiles of the banks and, perhaps more important, the funds that are selling the… Read More »

Thursday, July 2nd, 2015 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER Let me begin by saying that I believe the all-important swaps reporting requirement has been badly mishandled by the regulators worldwide, missing a golden opportunity to shed some light on this otherwise opaque market. In the US, one of the nagging problems has been that the SEC hadn’t put out its reporting rules, so there was no required reporting on one of the… Read More »