Support for MIFID delay building and FTT DOA?

Christmas seems to be coming early this year for the financial industry.

Signals that the implementation of MIFIDII should be delayed started a couple of weeks ago already and now Reuters reported that they have seen a document confirming the (entire) implementation will be delayed to January 2018. Meanwhile the lobbyist are focusing on two things: 1. Make sure that the delay will be across the board and not just on parts of the new regulation. 2. That the delay will be used to get ready and not for changes in the already agreed upon documentation.

Meanwhile, newsoutlets report that the dreaded FTT might be 'dead on arrival' (DOA) as the self imposed December deadline to reach an agreement on the specifics might not be met. In a document prepared for the EU commission the effectiveness of the FTT is questioned if all the exemptions that different participants require are implemented:

“The FTT scope of transactions in shares has been subject to higher controversy,” according to a document prepared for tax talks among all 28 EU nations and obtained by Bloomberg. The document asks whether the tax could work if it excludes pension funds, clearinghouses and market-makers, and whether such a design would raise enough revenue."