Time to Reduce Complexity in a Data-Driven Regulatory Agenda – Perspectives on the MiFID II Best Execution Regime

The revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation (the MiFID II regime)^[1] is one of the most comprehensive reforms of market structural and investor protection regimes the world has yet seen. The MiFID II regime will affect the European – and likely the global – market structure for years to come. Based on relevant perspectives from the revised best execution regime under MiFID II, this article suggest that it is time to reduce complexity. It is argued that unless a sufficient degree of horizontal and vertical integration of the best execution regulation takes place, the policy objectives cannot be reached. Further, it is argued that the significant data exercise that comes with the new rules only serves end-investors if a sufficient level of data consistency can be achieved. From this outset, the article emphasises the increased importance of data in today’s EU financial regulation. The article includes relevant comparisons to the equivalent US rules on best execution.