The purpose of this seminar is to give you an overview of the "Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and to discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise from its expected implementation in November 2007.

We start with a review of the historical background, taking you from the original "Investment Services Directive" via the "Financial Services Action Plan" to the blueprint for "IDS-2", as MiFID is also popularly called. We give a broad overview of the new directive and explain, what is changing, who will be affected, and what you will need to consider in planning business activities in a post-MiFID world.

We then look in more detail into the various (proposed) aspects of the MiFID "package", including organizational requirements, rules for conducting business, steps towards promoting market transparency and the extension of the "passporting" of financial services.

We will discuss how these changes will lead to increased competition between European exchanges, how financial advice will be regulated, how common rules on pre- and post-trade transparency and on transaction reporting will affect securities markets, and how the extended passport arrangements will make it easier to operate in other EU countries across a wider range of products.

Finally, we explain how new business opportunities could arise following the implementation of MiFID, and we identify and discuss the implementation issues whose timely resolution will be important to delivering an orderly transition to the post-MiFID world.