Big Bang for Traders Will Be More Soft Launch as MiFID Looms

The “big bang” the financial industry feared when the European Union’s overhaul of financial-trading rules takes effect in January may turn out to be more of a soft launch.

The EU’s MiFID II market rules hit firms with a compliance ordeal that may ring up more than $2 billion in costs, and restrict everything from fund managers’ research budgets to high-speed trading and dealing in wheat and oil. But regulators have been quietly building in extra time to help the industry adjust to some of the law’s provisions. Norway is even considering the consequences of a broader delay.

The last-minute ...