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Financial services firms yet to start gearing up for MiFID

• 86% of Compliance Officers say the FSA has not changed its stance on the view that all employees must be 'competent'
• 43% of Compliance Officers said that wholesale staff are now a higher risk area because the FSA is not providing a 'safe harbour'

With just three months to go until implementation, 70% of Compliance Officers in financial service firms say they have not yet adapted their training programmes towards MiFID (the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive). A survey of management, training and compliance professionals by Europe’s leading professional services training provider, BPP Professional Education, uncovered widespread uncertainty among firms. Forty three percent of Compliance Officers said that wholesale staff are now a higher risk area because the FSA is not providing a 'safe harbour'. The survey also uncovered concerns, particularly among senior staff, that less detailed prescription by the FSA is creating uncertainty and an additional cost burden.

The FSA recently reviewed its handbook of rules to make sure they comply with MiFID, which must be implemented in the UK by 1 November 2007. These T&C rules require all employees to possess the skills, knowledge and expertise necessary to do their jobs (the ‘competent employees’ rule). However, many in the industry feel the FSA has not given clear guidelines on what 'competence' means.

Seventy six percent of respondents overall felt that the FSA had not changed its stance on the view that employees must be competent. Results also showed that eighty four percent of total respondents said their exam-based training would remain at current levels or increase as qualifications are taken into consideration as part of the wider requirement to demonstrate competence.

David Bowden, managing director of BPP Financial Services, said; "The results of this survey clearly show that there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the training and competency rules around MiFID. A lot of emphasis has been put on getting IT systems or procedures in place to comply, but if your staff aren’t trained to understand the implications of MiFID then problems will occur. We will be looking to enhance our timetable to give our clients as much choice as possible to deal with the expected increase in demand for exam-based training."

To help companies bring their employees up to speed on MiFID, BPP are offering a number of one-day courses providing information on the background, scope and purpose of this wide-ranging legislation. The course provides an analysis of the main changes to the FSA rules from 1 November 2007, a guide on what a firm should be doing now to prepare for implementation and case studies showing how the regime will apply in practise.