Ensuring More Efficient and Secure Trading
The Securities Committee, including NHH researchers Jøril Mæland and Filip Truyen, has delivered a new NOU on changes to the Securities Trading Act.
Associate Professor Jøril Mæland at the Department of Finance is a member of the committee. Lawyer and Adjunct Professor at the Department of Accounting, Auditing, and Law at NHH, Filip Truyen, is the head of the Securities Act Committee.
Avoiding Uncertainty
They have now assessed the implementation of the MiFID directive and the MiFIR regulation in Norway. The NOU describes the current regulation of market transparency, disclosure systems, trading obligations, and payments for forwarding customer orders, in addition to proposing changes in laws and regulations that correspond to expected EEA rules.
Finance researcher Jøril Mæland says that the purpose of the changes is to make trading in securities more efficient and secure:
`Securities trading largely occurs across borders. To avoid uncertainty for issuers and investors regarding Norwegian regulations, it is also important for the Norwegian market that new rules are introduced at approximately the same time as in the EU´.
Already in 2015, the Ministry of Finance established the so-called Securities Act Committee, which, among other things, conducts investigations of the Stock Exchange and Securities Trading Act's provisions on penalties and administrative sanctions, and investigates the need for legislative changes.
Implementation of EU Directives in Norway
In February 2024, the Securities Act Committee received the following new additional mandate:
Investigation of the national implementation of changes in MiFID II and MiFIR (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation), or in Norwegian; the Securities Markets Directive and Securities Markets Regulation.
NOU 2024: 16 Changes in the Securities Trading Act
The Securities Trading Act regulates the trading of securities, such as stocks and bonds.
The purpose is, among other things, to ensure well-functioning securities markets, where there should be good information flow between the participants and prevent the misuse of market information.
Eliminating Weaknesses
The financial crisis in 2008–2009 revealed significant weaknesses in the financial industry. The EU revised the MiFID directive to strengthen regulation and supervision of the financial industry and also created a new regulation (MiFIR).
These now constitute the central framework for investment services, trading venues, and activity in the securities market.
In addition to addressing the weaknesses revealed by the financial crisis, the changes were intended to increase competition between trading venues. New rules were introduced to account for technological developments, including high-frequency algorithmic trading.