The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is the EU regulation governing finance markets and financial instruments, transposed into Spanish law via Securities Market Law 24/1988 of 28 July and Royal Decree 217/2008 of 15 February on the legal system applicable to investment services companies.

The directive chiefly strives to:

• Afford greater protection to customers, especially small investors, by established codes of conduct and protocols governing organisation and control.
• Introduce a regulatory framework to standardise the provision of investment services in European Union Member States.

The MiFID directive entails the following for customers taking up investment services: (i) mandatory classification of the customer and notification of the classification allocated; (ii) assessment of suitability or advisability, depending on the investment service provided, the customer classification and the type of financial instrument involved; (iii) the application of specific policies to carry out orders and manage conflicts of interests etc.

This section provides you with updated information supplied to S3’s customers concerning investment services, and S3 advises you to read it.

• A Rapid Guide to MiFID Concepts, summarising the main aspects of the regulation.
• Application form for changing the MiFID classification.
• Information on Incentives: scenarios for fees, commissions and non-monetary benefits paid by S3 or received by S3 from third parties, in relation to the provision of services concerning financial instruments.
• Policy for carrying out orders  or better implementation of S3.
• Policy for Conflicts of Interest of S3.
• Expenditure and costs of securities market operations.