After three years of criticism, administrative headaches for banks and an exodus from stock research, the pandemic prompted Europe to water down its key financial market rules.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said on Wednesday that the changes to the revised MiFID will encourage the investment community to pay more attention to small- and mid-sized firms, attracting investment as they grow and helping lift the region’s economies out of a historic recession.
“This will help make it easier for our markets to support European businesses during this difficult time,” Mairead McGuinness, European commissioner for financial services, said in a statement. The commission proposed changes to the rules in July as the economy took a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.