Investment - Articles - Biggest issue for MiFIDII and PRIIPs is sourcing data

 Four fifths of insurers said the collection and aggregation of data for PRIIPs was the most challenging requirement, trumping the calculation or document production aspects of the rules. For asset managers, a similar number said collecting the data was the biggest challenge for MiFID II, well ahead of concerns related to issues such as template construction.

 More than 90% of respondents in the survey said they saw deliverability or experience as the most important issue when searching for partners to help them with these new rules, demonstrating that financial businesses recognise the importance of compliance with the regulations when they come into force in January.

 At the same time, half of those surveyed cited a lack of internal cohesion as the main problem when it came to dealing with regulation, highlighting the need for a strategic approach to be introduced to simplify the regulatory process and reduce the risk of errant or conflicting data being produced.

 Commenting on the findings, Silverfinch managing director John Dowdall said: "Many commentators have missed the fact that the biggest challenge with these new rules is the task of assembling the data from manufacturers in a standardised format that can then be passed on to the distributors that need it. What our survey shows is that those caught up in the maelstrom – the asset managers, insurers and wealth managers who will have to deal with this regulatory cliff edge – recognise the challenge of data gathering.

 “A regulatory data exchange is the only way to overcome this hurdle – allowing asset managers to provide their information in a standardised format and then sending that data to the relevant distribution network.”