The clock is now ticking in the European Union toward a sweeping overhaul of its financial-services industry, which should create one giant, unified market for the sale of financial securities by the end of next year.
Formally called the Market in Financial Instruments Directive but abbreviated everywhere as “MiFID,” the rule has been pushed by the European Commission to tear down barriers to cross-border trading erected by the EU’s 25 member nations. European governments have until the end of January to amend their laws and rules to comply with the new directive. Once complete, that harmonized rulebook will abolish all manner of protectionist legislation on the sale of financial securities and create a single, EU-wide trading zone as of Nov. 1, 2007.
