Tillis Secures Reprieve from European Financial Directive | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    WASHINGTON, D.C.     Today, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, received notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that they would not force U.S. institutions to follow the new European MiFID II regulations.

    "I applaud the SEC for protecting U.S. financial institutions from European rules that would cause chaos and harm to American business," said Senator Tillis. "Forcing these new rules upon U.S. institutions would have turned operations upside-down, resulted in lost jobs, and added another impediment to companies seeking to enter the public markets. I will continue to work with the SEC to find a path forward that will address the conflict between American and European rules, and I thank Chair Clayton for his important work on this issue."

    Background:

    In June, Senator Tillis wrote a letter to SEC Chairman Clayton about concerns surround MiFID II and the implications it would have on U.S. institutions. Senator Tillis received a letter in response from the SEC last month and was notified today that the SEC would not force the European regulations onto American institutions.

    According to the SEC, "the no-action relief provides a path for market participants to comply with the research requirements of MiFID II in a manner that is consistent with the U.S. federal securities laws. More specifically, and subject to various terms and conditions: (1) broker-dealers, on a temporary basis, may receive research payments from money managers in hard dollars or from advisory clients' research payment accounts; (2) money managers may continue to aggregate orders for mutual funds and other clients; and (3) money managers may continue to rely on an existing safe harbor when paying broker-dealers for research and brokerage."

• Contact: Daniel Keylin
•     daniel_keylin@tillis.senate.gov