Di 18. - Do 20. November 2008 - Frankfurt am Main, Messegelände, Halle 5.1
MiFID solutions at the E.B.I.F. 2007
Frankfurt, 24 October 2007 – MiFID takes effect in just eight days’ time. From 1 November 2007 onwards, the requirements of the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) will be binding for European banks, stock exchanges and securities firms. The aim of MiFID is to harmonise the European financial market, to improve investor protection and to enhance market efficiency through increased competition. In recent weeks and months, the institutes in question have had to take extensive steps to adapt their IT systems to the MiFID regulations. However, using this very technology offers many financial institutions considerable potential for optimisation. Decision-makers in the financial sector can find the latest IT solutions for MiFID requirements at the tenth European Banking & Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.), which will take place in Frankfurt from 20 to 22 November 2007.
Although there have been considerable delays in transposing the EU directive into national law, EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy remained unyielding in his decision to retain 1 November 2007 as the starting date. This means that the institutes concerned had little time to adapt to the new legal requirements. Today, the banks, stock exchanges and securities firms affected by the EU directive have progressed to different degrees in their operative implementation measures.
Customer advisors at financial service providers are able to recognise the improved sales opportunities offered by the MiFID implementation and use them to good effect. “Efficient implementation requires a strategic use of training”, says Andreas von Oertzen, Managing Director of digital spirit GmbH, a regular E.B.I.F. exhibitor specialising in web-based training and analysis tools, including tools designed to help banks meet MiFID and compliance requirements. He explains: “Training in MiFID requirements calls for more than a one-off course for customer advisors. The subject must be integrated within companies’ fundamental compliance training in the long term”.
As early as June of this year, IT experts from the E.B.I.F. trend barometer stressed the urgency of carrying out the technical measures necessary for implementing MiFID requirements. 62.5% of the 34 decision-makers from leading financial IT providers surveyed predicted that banks and financial service providers would need a huge effort to be able to meet the MiFID requirements by the deadline. “We had a lot of preparatory work to do for MiFID too”, confirms Michael Wolber, Member of the Management Board of KBC Bank Deutschland AG. “Our efforts focused on implementing suitable reporting systems in close cooperation with our Belgian parent company, KBC Group NV. We now feel ready to cope with the new requirements. It is very interesting for us to see at first hand at the E.B.I.F.’s Business Solutions Forum how other banks have implemented MiFID from a technical point of view.”
Decision-makers from European banks and financial service providers find their answers at the E.B.I.F., where both national and international exhibitors showcase the latest developments in the field of financial IT. For example, aixigo AG, whose software is primarily designed to improve and standardise customer advice. Chief Executive Erich Borsch explains why his company will be exhibiting at the E.B.I.F. again: “For us, the E.B.I.F. is the ideal place to meet decision-makers from the European financial sector. This year, we will be presenting solutions for withholding tax, sales-oriented portfolio management systems, portfolio and asset optimisation and, of course, MiFID.”
Last year, over 200 exhibitors presented their solutions at the E.B.I.F. With approximately 7,000 visitors from over 30 countries, the Frankfurt-based event is Europe’s largest independent technology trade fair for the banking and insurance sector. This year, the E.B.I.F. will once again be taking place within the framework of EURO FINANCE WEEK (EFW), the high-powered industry gathering of the European finance and insurance sectors in one of Europe’s most important financial centres. The introduction of the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) will also be a focal point of the international MiFID summit organised by the Maleki Group in cooperation with the European Banking Federation. This event will take place in Frankfurt on 20 November as part of the 10th EFW.
10TH EURO FINANCE WEEK 19 - 23 November 2007
E.B.I.F. Trade Fair 20 - 22 November 2007
NEW: Business Solutions Forum – 20 - 22 November 2007
MiFID Summit 20 November 2007
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Michael Diegelmann / Henryk Deter
cometis AG
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diegelmann@cometis.de
deter@cometis.de
