With new regulations put into effect, legal requirements for financial institutions in Europe have become more demanding and firms are called to act in accordance to implement new methods of functioning. Thus, compliance experts are called into action in order to undertake such arduous tasks.
GDPR
The European Parliament adopted the GDPR in April 2016 and implemented it on May 25, 2018 replacing an outdated data protection directive put into effect in 1995. It is considered to be the most significant change in data privacy regulation in the last 20 years.
The GDPR is a set of rules pertaining to the use and processing of personal data of data subjects and it carries provisions that demand from businesses to protect EU citizens’ personal data and privacy for transactions that take place within the European Union. At the same time, it controls the exportation of personal data outside the European Union. With uniformity of provisions for all EU member states, companies are required to comply with the same high standards and are called to invest large funds to meet the strict requirements.
The GDPR burdens organisations with heavy accountability obligations to ensure that they show compliance with the regulations. While some elements are explicit, the GDPR is vulnerable to ambiguity when it states that companies must provide a “reasonable” level of protection for personal data but leaving the term “reasonable” open to interpretation. This leaves organisations vulnerable to fault and allows the GDPR governing more freedom in assessing fines for data breaches and non-compliance.
The best way for organisations to keep track of new regulations is to be advised by compliance professionals. Financial organisations can benefit from the GDPR: A High Level Analysis of a Regulated Firm’s Obligation seminar by FAI Comply held on December, 13, 2019. The FAI Comply experts will cover an extended agenda on topics pertaining to GDPR offering firms the knowledge and operational skills to build, implement and manage a GDPR Compliance Programme, and guidance on how to fulfill the DPO (Data Protection Officer) role.
MiFID II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive)
MiFID II is a revised version of the original MiFID legislative framework and it came into effect on January 3, 2018. This set of rules established by the European Union aims at regulating financial markets and upgrading investors’ protection while providing additional transparency and ensuring a fairer, safer, more resilient and efficient functioning of the financial markets. Its purpose is to standardise practices in all state members of the European Union and ultimately serve as a measure to restore confidence in the industry following the 2008 financial crisis.
MiFID II covers all facets of financial investment and trading and financial professionals within the EU including brokers, traders, fund managers, bankers, exchange officials, institutional as well as retail investors and their respective companies.
The requirements set by MiFID pose a challenge for financial institutions as they must acquire a deep understanding of how to promote their clients’ protection and ensure that they act in their customers’ best interest rather than their own.
FAI Comply can aid your financial institution with how to deal with these new demanding arrangements. The MiFID II: Investor Protection seminar will take place on December 20, 2019 and it will cover all topics related to the regulation.
FAI Comply with its team of experienced compliance professionals ensures expert guidance for your financial institutions pertaining to GDPR and MiFID II regulations. For more information about our services, please contact us via email to info@fai.com.cy or call our office on +357 25933301.
Written by Constantinos Constantinides, Director of FAI Comply