On November 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission extended temporary no-action relief to firms that are regulated in the United States in connection with their efforts to comply with the research provisions of the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). Under the extension, the SEC staff will not recommend enforcement action under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 against broker-dealers receiving payments in hard dollars or through research payment accounts from clients subject to MiFID II.

This no-action relief was set to expire July 3, 2020, but has now been extended until July 3, 2023.

The SEC No-Action Letter is available here.

The extension letter is available here.