Agency to let brokers sell analysis in EU and not get sued
- SEC chief says move will preserve investor access to analysis
Wall Street is getting a three-year reprieve from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Europe’s tough investment research rules, as the U.S. regulator said it needs additional time to evaluate sweeping changes affecting the brokerage industry.
The agency’s move is its latest effort to blunt the impact of the European Union’s revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID II. American brokerages have warned that breaking out the cost of stock and bond analysis would seriously threaten their research businesses.
“Today’s extension of the staff’s no-action letter is an important step in our continued efforts to address changes in the market for research payments driven by MiFID II with an eye toward preserving investor access to research to the maximum extent possible,” SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in a statement announcing the changes. “The impacts of MiFID II are evolving, as EU authorities and regulators in individual EU member states evaluate its effects and consider whether to modify their rules.”
With the clock winding down on the SEC initial reprieve, industry had been pushing for more clarity from the agency. Clayton said the extension will allow the SEC to evaluate if additional guidance or action from the agency is necessary.