Compliance Corner - Brevan Howard, Tudor Investment

Editorial Staff

15 August 2017

Brevan Howard & Tudor Investments
Global hedge fund firms have dropped their MIFID licences according to the Financial Times. The move will enable investment manager to avoid the new strict rules which will come into place in January 2018.

Firms are preparing for the arrival of Europe’s MIFID II directive, which will force fund managers, banks and brokerages to change their business models and hand over huge amounts of data to regulators.

The fears of hedge fund managers over MIFID II stem from the fact that the new rules will involve sending lengthy reports to regulators within minutes of a trade taking place. The increase in transparency could scare off potential investors into the sector.

According to the FT, the two hedge fund companies have instead secured Alternative Investment Fund Manager licences, which have enabled asset management companies to market hedge funds to investors across Europe since 2013.

The licences also have similar features of MIFID, including tough restrictions on pay for fund managers, however some firms view these as less challenging than the MIFID II rules.

Spokespeople from both Brevan Howard and Tudor Investment have declined to comment.