MiFID – the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive – comes into effect on 1 November 2007, and it will replace the existing Investment Services Directive (ISD), Directive 93/22/EEC.
MiFID introduces a single market and a single regulatory system for investment services across the 30 member states of the EEA, the European Economic Area (which includes the 27 Member States of the European Union plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein).
Client Classification
MiFID introduces 3 new categories of client which correspond to 3 different levels of investor protections.
Eligible counterparty (or ECP) is the less protected category of clients and is also referred as a subset of the
Professional Client category:
The use of ECP classification is limited to the following MiFID activities (also referred as ECP business):
- Execution of orders on behalf of clients
- Reception and transmission of orders in relation to one or more financial instruments
- Dealing on own account.
"
Retail Client", the less knowledgeble and more protected category, is simply a client that is other than professional.
MiFID Transposition - State of play in Member States.
Link to the official page of the European Commission.
MiFID - The list of regulated markets.
Link to the official list of the European Commission, including Member States approved stock exchanges, secundary markets and multilateral trading facilities (MTFs).
See also
MTF, list of Multilateral Trading Facilities with regulatory details
Trading venue
Systematic internaliser
Eligible counterparty
UCITS