The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has today published the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) guidelines on “certain aspects of the MiFID requirements applying to the compliance function”. The FMA will apply these guidelines from now on.
The guidelines contain practical notes on the compliance function, which credit institutions and investment firms are required to set up in order to ensure compliance with investment rules within the company. They detail the way in which compliance officers are required to support and advise the departments engaged in securities transactions, the human and other resources (e.g. budgetary) that must be provided to compliance officers, and the powers compliance officers and their staff must be granted.
These guidelines form an interpretation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and of the national transpositions of this European legal framework – in Austria’s case the 2007 Wertpapieraufsichtsgesetz (Securities Supervision Act).
The ESMA guidelines (German only) can be found on the FMA website at https://www.fma.gv.at/eu/esma-leitlinien/
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43/(0)1/24959-5106
+43/(0)676/882 49 516