May 08 2006 Alex Davidson
The Financial Services Authority and the Treasury are checking whether existing rules should be retained if they go beyond obligations contained in the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, according to the joint implementation plan. The plan, which has just been published, fits with the FSA's policy to minimise gold plating, an FSA spokesman confirmed.
"People have said that there are rules that might have to go. We never said this. But we're now considering this issue, and I can confirm we are in discussion with the Treasury about it," the spokesman said.
The catalyst for the FSA's and Treasury's checks is a provision in the draft implementing directive, Article 4, which seeks to limit member states' freedom to add additional obligations at the national level to those contained in MiFID. The commission's stated intention in including the provision was to protect the effective operation of the single market, according to the plan.
The Treasury and FSA will take responsibilities in relation to Article 4 seriously, the plan said. "This means looking carefully at existing legislation and rules to see whether they might go beyond the directive and then considering whether or not there is a case for their retention in the light of the tests applied under Article 4."
Discussions will conclude within the framework of the timetable for MiFID, which is to be fully implemented by November 1 2007, but there are no more specific deadlines, according to the FSA spokesman.
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