MiFID II delay? Don’t blame ESMA

Speaking at yesterday’s ISDA Europe conference, ESMA chief Steven Maijoor quelled widespread doubt that MiFIDII/MiFIR final draft RTS would be published on time,

“I am very determined to make sure that we deliver in the month of September. We cannot predict how board meetings go but most of the work on MiFIDII/MiFIR in terms of Regulatory Technical Standards should be completed this month.”

The board meeting he refers to is the qualified majority vote that is required to endorse the RTS proposals. Qualification in this instance requires approval by 55% of the 28 member states, with the proviso that the 55% of positive votes speak for at least 65% of the EU population.  National votes are roughly weighted according to population size, although a valid negative vote must comprise at least four EC members.  At least three states- UK, France and Germany- have already made their concerns public in a letter to ESMA and the EC accusing them of inconsistency and regulatory overreach. It remains to be seen if these complaints are translated into votes, it would take minimal arm-twisting for another EC member to form a blocking minimum of four.  In Mr Maijoor’s own words ,

“Under a qualified majority system you can have blocking minorities and you get stuck. I would hope that doesn’t happen with regards to MiFIR”.

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