Will the EU’s new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) prove to be just another draft regulation to your organization, or will it be a major business challenge? With the 1 November, 2007, compliance deadline fast approaching, the answer depends on your institution’s compliance readiness. About MiFID MiFID is the EU's push toward updating the regulatory framework for investment banks in EU member states regarding investment services, organizational requirements, conduct of business rules, and markets and transparency. The primary objectives of MiFID are to: Increase protection for consumers and investors. Preserve market integrity. Allow trading firms to operate across the EU under the standardized rules of local regulators. The challenge MiFID will require financial institutions to manage their businesses much more tightly, with a level of information retention and integration that far exceeds current general practices. Many firms currently trade off-book and lack the systems and technology to meet MiFID’s compliance demands. Indeed, MiFID’s new legal requirements will impact a number of key business processes, requiring financial institutions to: Re-evaluate data management and storage capabilities to ensure five years of archived data for every single transaction. Update trade execution platforms and connectivity so that they are electronically linked to the different markets. Implement an integrated platform to ensure compliance, improve governance and deliver new levels of trading competencies. Accomplishing this will be no small task. With the November 1 deadline looming large, the time to act is now. SAS can help. SAS’ global approach From project evaluation to complete software offerings and implementation services, SAS provides a global approach to MiFID compliance. Gain a single version of the truth for all compliance reporting. SAS’ enterprise intelligence platform offers the single reporting architecture that will give financial institutions consistency across all compliance reporting, enabling you to not only meet the deadline for MiFID compliance, but also giving you the opportunity to take advantage of the commonalities among the more than 40 EU directives that must be implemented by 2010, saving you money and putting you ahead of the game – and the competition. Manage and analyze growing volumes of information. SAS’ award-winning data integration and business intelligence solutions can handle the significant growth in the volume of information generated from exchanges and investment firms that MiFID compliance will bring. Meet requirements for client classification and trade transparency. SAS® Banking Intelligence Solutions deliver banking-specific software solutions built on an enterprise intelligence platform, enabling firms to meet requirements for client classification and trade transparency, as well as to aggregate information to support execution and client reporting. Prove "best execution" on deals. SAS’ performance management software and dashboards give firms the ability record and store information to prove “best execution” – taking into account issues such as price, venue, cost and speed – and keep records for five years. In addition, a partnership with Ullink, architect of the modular transactional connectivity concept (ULBridge) and a true, global FIX solution provider, gives institutions access to a library of thousands of plug-ins developed and supported worldwide, with data it collects directly integrated into the SAS®9 platform. Get up and running quickly with a trusted vendor who knows compliance. The SAS Enterprise Intelligence platform can be implemented in a short time frame and can significantly reduce your total cost of ownership. In addition, SAS’ extensive experience and proven track record with regulatory compliance (including Basel II, Sarbanes-Oxley, anti-money laundering initiatives and more), give you the assurance that your compliance needs will be understood and met. Gain control over your business. SAS software and services can also help you in other functional areas impacted by MiFID, including KYC (Know Your Customer), operational risk management, anti-money laundering, anti-fraud and abuse measures and beyond. Indeed, the business case for compliance is more compelling than the compliance requirements alone. Gartner research shows that companies that have taken a proactive approach to compliance spend 10 times less than those that buy one-off solutions. From SAS’ perspective, with more than 2,900 financial services customers globally using SAS to gain a competitive advantage, that rings true.

Looking for more information on MiFID Compliance? Download the white paper "Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID)". Sign up for our free Financial Services e-newsletter. Ready to put THE POWER TO KNOW® to work for you? Contact your local SAS office or call us toll free at 1-800-727-0025 (U.S. and Canada). Contact SAS for pricing information and to learn more about our products and solutions. Download FREE white paper "Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID)"