France takes lead in unbundling debate

摘要

As part of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive Ⅱ (MiFID Ⅱ), EU-based fund managers will have to pay for research either out of their profit and loss accounts or set up ring-fenced research accounts. This may not seem like a big deal, but it will affect the type of research produced by the sell side, namely investment banks and brokers. And it will affect the buy side -that is, asset managers - as they will have to demonstrate that they have paid for research they have obtained. Though the move has been mooted for some time, a recent consultation from the French regulator Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) could influence its implementation. It appears to be an attempt to ensure a level playing field across the EU and to stop 'gold plating'. Indeed, the AMF has become quite influential in the unbundling debate and might be exploiting the UK's rapidly diminishing influence on EU policy-making following the Brexit vote. The UK has been pursuing its own agenda on unbundling for more than a decade and heavily influenced the drafting of MiFID Ⅱ on this topic, which alienated some of its continental peers.