Risk 's Derivatives and Risk Management Summit Europe 2006: Regulators ‘must clarify MiFID' to prevent unfair competitive advantages arising

Financial institutions across the European Union’s 25 member states must lobby their individual regulators to ensure that jurisdictional interpretation and implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) next year does not penalise firms operating in certain countries, speakers at Risk ’s Derivatives and Risk Management Summit Europe 2006 conference in Monte Carlo have warned.

Fears are growing that differences in regulatory practice between member states could create different tiers of interpretation and competitiveness. While institutions will be able to operate across borders, they will still have to abide by their home regulator, putting them at a disadvantage compared to the domestic operators in a host country with a less stringent view of the rules.

Simon Morris, a partner at the law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, said that the UK Financial Services Authority’s (FSA