Paper chase – MiFID client classification

The countdown to MiFID launch has begun: from 1 November overhauled conduct of business regulations will apply on the basis of changed client definitions. Mazhar Manzoor of FSA Compliance Consultants Ltd looks at how firms should respond now to the revised classification if new and existing business is not to be compromised.

© FSA Compliance Consultants Ltd 2007. Mazhar Manzoor is Managing Director of FSA Compliance Consultants Ltd and can be contacted on tel: +44 (0)845 450 7222 or email: enquiries@fs-a.com; website: www.fs-a.com. He is a regulatory compliance practitioner assisting clients in money laundering and fraud prevention and all areas of Financial Services Authority regulation including preparations for EU-led changes such as the Market in Financial Instruments Directive and the Capital Requirements Directive. He also runs compliance, risk and money laundering training workshops for senior bankers and MLROs across the Middle East.

With less than two months to go to the date by which the many and diverse requirements of the reworked Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) need to be fully implemented, most firms impacted by MiFID are very busy implementing the necessary systems and procedural changes. The revisions to client classification are among the highest priority and most visible changes in firms’ external dealings and this article examines the practical implications for firms’ dealings both with existing clients and new clients taken on after 1 November.