A study by NPL found that 34 percent of respondents were unable to pinpoint specific deadlines for compliance.
Bloomberg
The countdown to MiFID II is fully underway with only a few months until its implementation on January 3, 2018. However, ahead of its passage, a number of lingering concerns remain from firms regarding key deadlines and a general awareness of specific attributes.
MiFID II is poised to dramatically reshape the regulatory space in 2018. While firms have had ample time to prepare for the shift, many are still unprepared or have been slow to reconcile their upcoming compliance Obligations.
A recent study from the NPL, the UK's National Measurement Institute, corroborated this trend, suggesting that many firms could fall short of compliance by employing inefficient means of timestamping.
Leon Lobo, Strategic Business Development Manager, NPL, commented: "It is encouraging to see an understanding of the magnitude of the new regulations and a clear will from the UK finance industry to shape up for the Regulation. However, what is equally important is to ensure that the efforts of industry are not wasted and there is a clear grasp of what level of accuracy constitutes compliance.”
Leon Lobo
The regulations are designed to facilitate greater market oversight, transparency, and reporting requirements. More specifically, this includes shoring up regulatory technical standards (RTS 25) that will necessitate that all trades be timestamped to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) with a high level of precision.
To date, one of the most common methods currently used for timestamping is Network Time Protocol-based Internet Time – the study found that 56 percent of respondents employ it. This method is only accurate to the tenth of a second and while suitable for human trading, it cannot remain a solution for high frequency trading HFT and non-HFT. These methods require 100 microsecond and one millisecond accuracy respectively, under RTS 25.
Steep fines for non-compliance
Subsequently, timestamps will need to be accurate to within 100 microseconds of UTC for HFT. Firms that are non-compliant with MiFID II regulations will risk fines of up to €5 million euros, or 10% of global turnover.
The report did indicate that top line awareness of MiFID II was high among those surveyed, with 91 percent of firms being aware of the regulation itself. However, while 75 percent of these claimed to understand the deadline for compliance, nearly 66 percent were unable to pinpoint the precise date for the new regulations.
Many surveyed individuals instead chose dates later than the January 3, 2018 deadline, suggesting that they would lapse on specific requirements. Consequently, this trend underscores the need for improved education across the industry in terms of MiFID II obligations.
Survey findings
Overall, the study included a panel of 200 professionals responsible for operations and compliance across the UK financial sector. This included a composite of banks, hedge funds, analyst firms, investment management firms, and data centers.
Moreover, the survey also highlighted the continued reliance on GPS for timestamping, with 14 percent of financial services professionals using it. By extension, nearly 79 percent of these individuals utilizing GPS experienced issues doing so. This included issues such as drop out, loss of accuracy, lack of synchronization, and leap second issues.
Under RTS 25, the optimal method to deliver a precise time signal is UTC delivery by fiber from a national timing institute. Overwhelmingly, consensus research has shown that fiber optics are more than up to the task of achieving accuracy better than 100 nanoseconds.
Unfortunately, just 21 percent of respondents in the survey were currently using this method to keep to time. 32 percent of those surveyed are however taking steps towards compliance, and endorse the new timestamping techniques. These figures still suggest that many firms will short of the regulations by the imposed deadline.
"Many of the current methods are problematic and opting to improve these will not guarantee the highly-accurate time standard which will ensure timestamps are easily certified,” explained Mr. Lobo.
The countdown to MiFID II is fully underway with only a few months until its implementation on January 3, 2018. However, ahead of its passage, a number of lingering concerns remain from firms regarding key deadlines and a general awareness of specific attributes.
MiFID II is poised to dramatically reshape the regulatory space in 2018. While firms have had ample time to prepare for the shift, many are still unprepared or have been slow to reconcile their upcoming compliance Obligations.
A recent study from the NPL, the UK's National Measurement Institute, corroborated this trend, suggesting that many firms could fall short of compliance by employing inefficient means of timestamping.
Leon Lobo, Strategic Business Development Manager, NPL, commented: "It is encouraging to see an understanding of the magnitude of the new regulations and a clear will from the UK finance industry to shape up for the Regulation. However, what is equally important is to ensure that the efforts of industry are not wasted and there is a clear grasp of what level of accuracy constitutes compliance.”
Leon Lobo
The regulations are designed to facilitate greater market oversight, transparency, and reporting requirements. More specifically, this includes shoring up regulatory technical standards (RTS 25) that will necessitate that all trades be timestamped to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) with a high level of precision.
To date, one of the most common methods currently used for timestamping is Network Time Protocol-based Internet Time – the study found that 56 percent of respondents employ it. This method is only accurate to the tenth of a second and while suitable for human trading, it cannot remain a solution for high frequency trading HFT and non-HFT. These methods require 100 microsecond and one millisecond accuracy respectively, under RTS 25.
Steep fines for non-compliance
Subsequently, timestamps will need to be accurate to within 100 microseconds of UTC for HFT. Firms that are non-compliant with MiFID II regulations will risk fines of up to €5 million euros, or 10% of global turnover.
The report did indicate that top line awareness of MiFID II was high among those surveyed, with 91 percent of firms being aware of the regulation itself. However, while 75 percent of these claimed to understand the deadline for compliance, nearly 66 percent were unable to pinpoint the precise date for the new regulations.
Many surveyed individuals instead chose dates later than the January 3, 2018 deadline, suggesting that they would lapse on specific requirements. Consequently, this trend underscores the need for improved education across the industry in terms of MiFID II obligations.
Survey findings
Overall, the study included a panel of 200 professionals responsible for operations and compliance across the UK financial sector. This included a composite of banks, hedge funds, analyst firms, investment management firms, and data centers.
Moreover, the survey also highlighted the continued reliance on GPS for timestamping, with 14 percent of financial services professionals using it. By extension, nearly 79 percent of these individuals utilizing GPS experienced issues doing so. This included issues such as drop out, loss of accuracy, lack of synchronization, and leap second issues.
Under RTS 25, the optimal method to deliver a precise time signal is UTC delivery by fiber from a national timing institute. Overwhelmingly, consensus research has shown that fiber optics are more than up to the task of achieving accuracy better than 100 nanoseconds.
Unfortunately, just 21 percent of respondents in the survey were currently using this method to keep to time. 32 percent of those surveyed are however taking steps towards compliance, and endorse the new timestamping techniques. These figures still suggest that many firms will short of the regulations by the imposed deadline.
"Many of the current methods are problematic and opting to improve these will not guarantee the highly-accurate time standard which will ensure timestamps are easily certified,” explained Mr. Lobo.
ASX Faces $150M Capital Charge After Scathing Inquiry Finds Years of Neglect
Executive Interview | Charlotte Bullock | Chief Product Officer, Bank of London | FMLS:25
Executive Interview | Charlotte Bullock | Chief Product Officer, Bank of London | FMLS:25
In this interview, we sat down with Charlotte Bullock, Head of Product at The Bank of London, previously at SAP and now shaping product at one of the sector’s most ambitious new banking players.
Charlotte reflects on the Summit so far and talks about the culture inside fintech banks today. We look at the pressures that come with scaling, and how firms can hold onto the nimble approach that made them stand out early on.
We also cover the state of payments ahead of her appearance on the payments roundtable: the blockages financial firms face, the areas that still need fixing, and what a realistic solution looks like in 2026.
In this interview, we sat down with Charlotte Bullock, Head of Product at The Bank of London, previously at SAP and now shaping product at one of the sector’s most ambitious new banking players.
Charlotte reflects on the Summit so far and talks about the culture inside fintech banks today. We look at the pressures that come with scaling, and how firms can hold onto the nimble approach that made them stand out early on.
We also cover the state of payments ahead of her appearance on the payments roundtable: the blockages financial firms face, the areas that still need fixing, and what a realistic solution looks like in 2026.
In this conversation, we sit down with Drew Niv, CSO at ATFX Connect and one of the most influential figures in modern FX.
We speak about market structure, the institutional view on liquidity, and the sharp rise of prop trading, a sector Drew has been commenting on in recent months. Drew explains why he once dismissed prop trading, why his view changed, and what he now thinks the model means for brokers, clients and risk managers.
We explore subscription-fee dependency, the high reneging rate, and the long-term challenge: how brokers can build a more stable and honest version of the model. Drew also talks about the traffic advantage standalone prop firms have built and why brokers may still win in the long run if they take the right approach.
In this conversation, we sit down with Drew Niv, CSO at ATFX Connect and one of the most influential figures in modern FX.
We speak about market structure, the institutional view on liquidity, and the sharp rise of prop trading, a sector Drew has been commenting on in recent months. Drew explains why he once dismissed prop trading, why his view changed, and what he now thinks the model means for brokers, clients and risk managers.
We explore subscription-fee dependency, the high reneging rate, and the long-term challenge: how brokers can build a more stable and honest version of the model. Drew also talks about the traffic advantage standalone prop firms have built and why brokers may still win in the long run if they take the right approach.
Executive Interview | Remonda Z. Kirketerp Møller| CEO & Founder Muinmos | FMLS:25
Executive Interview | Remonda Z. Kirketerp Møller| CEO & Founder Muinmos | FMLS:25
In this interview, Remonda Z. Kirketerp Møller, founder of Muinmos, breaks down the state of AI in regtech and what responsible adoption really looks like for brokers. We talk about rising fragmentation, the pressures around compliance accuracy, and why most firms are still in the early stages of AI maturity.
Ramanda also shares insights on regulator sandboxes, shifting expectations around accountability, and the current reality of MiCA licensing and passporting in Europe.
A concise look at where compliance, onboarding, and AI-driven processes are heading next.
In this interview, Remonda Z. Kirketerp Møller, founder of Muinmos, breaks down the state of AI in regtech and what responsible adoption really looks like for brokers. We talk about rising fragmentation, the pressures around compliance accuracy, and why most firms are still in the early stages of AI maturity.
Ramanda also shares insights on regulator sandboxes, shifting expectations around accountability, and the current reality of MiCA licensing and passporting in Europe.
A concise look at where compliance, onboarding, and AI-driven processes are heading next.
In this conversation, we speak with Aydin Bonabi, CEO and co-founder of Surveill, a firm focused on fraud detection and AI-driven compliance tools for financial institutions.
We start with Aydin’s view of the Summit and the challenges brokers face as fraud tactics grow more complex. He explains how firms can stay ahead through real-time signals, data patterns, and early-stage detection.
We also talk about AI training and why compliance teams often struggle to keep models accurate, fair, and aligned with regulatory expectations. Aydin breaks down what “good” AI training looks like inside a financial environment, including the importance of clean data, domain expertise, and human oversight.
He closes with a clear message: fraud is scaling, and so must the tools that stop it.
In this conversation, we speak with Aydin Bonabi, CEO and co-founder of Surveill, a firm focused on fraud detection and AI-driven compliance tools for financial institutions.
We start with Aydin’s view of the Summit and the challenges brokers face as fraud tactics grow more complex. He explains how firms can stay ahead through real-time signals, data patterns, and early-stage detection.
We also talk about AI training and why compliance teams often struggle to keep models accurate, fair, and aligned with regulatory expectations. Aydin breaks down what “good” AI training looks like inside a financial environment, including the importance of clean data, domain expertise, and human oversight.
He closes with a clear message: fraud is scaling, and so must the tools that stop it.
Exness expands its presence in Africa: Inside our interview with Paul Margarites in Cape Town
Exness expands its presence in Africa: Inside our interview with Paul Margarites in Cape Town
Finance Magnates met with Paul Margarites, Exness regional commercial director for Sub-Saharan Africa, during a visit to the firm’s office opening in Cape Town. In this talk, led by Andrea Badiola Mateos, Co-CEO at Finance Magnates, Paul shares views on the South African trading space, local user behavior, mobile trends, regulation, team growth, and how Exness plans to grow in more markets across the region. @Exness
Read the article at: https://www.financemagnates.com/thought-leadership/exness-expands-its-presence-in-africa-inside-our-interview-with-paul-margarites/
#exness #financemagnates #exnesstrading #CFDtrading #tradeonline #africanews #capetown
Finance Magnates met with Paul Margarites, Exness regional commercial director for Sub-Saharan Africa, during a visit to the firm’s office opening in Cape Town. In this talk, led by Andrea Badiola Mateos, Co-CEO at Finance Magnates, Paul shares views on the South African trading space, local user behavior, mobile trends, regulation, team growth, and how Exness plans to grow in more markets across the region. @Exness
Read the article at: https://www.financemagnates.com/thought-leadership/exness-expands-its-presence-in-africa-inside-our-interview-with-paul-margarites/
#exness #financemagnates #exnesstrading #CFDtrading #tradeonline #africanews #capetown
