Newsletter Sep 2006: French regulator adopts pragmatic MiFID view

PARIS – The French securities markets regulator, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), is adopting a distinctly pragmatic approach to the local implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), the sweeping new law aimed at creating a single EU financial market. In a late-July consultation paper* the AMF sets out its guidelines for investment firms required to meet the MiFID’s “best execution” provisions – a key part of the new law, intended to protect the firm’s clients, particularly retail clients.