Financial advisers will not have to record client meetings under MiFID II regime, FCA says

The clarification about the application of the "taping rules" under MiFID II was contained in minutes (4-page / 60KB PDF) published from a roundtable meeting the FCA hosted with industry last month on MiFID II implementation.

"Some detailed questions had been raised about the taping regime, including that the requirements raised data protection issues," the minutes said. "The FCA said that the taping rules did not require the taping of face-to-face conversations."

Financial advisers will be required to record telephone calls in which they recommend products or aim to make a 'transaction' under the new regime, which is not scheduled to come into force until 3 January 2017 at the earliest. The new rules will require advisers to store those recordings for five years. The FCA opposed those requirements but admitted earlier this summer that it had "lost the debate" in discussions with law makers across the EU.

"The requirements on accessibility of the information and monitoring of calls were similar to those the FCA would expect under its existing taping rules," the minutes published by the FCA said. "And firms would be expected to respond in a reasonable timeframe to reasonable requests from clients for copies of tapes without a charge."

The FCA said it would set out "the necessary detail" on what will be required of advisers in a paper to be published in December.

Once in force MiFID II will revise and update the existing Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, which came into force on 1 November 2007 with the aim of creating a harmonised regulatory regime for investment services across the European Economic Area (EEA).