A Healthy Dose of Competition

Mifid sounds like something obscure and vaguely unpleasant, say a fungus that is ruining the rapeseed crop. The discovery that it is actually the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive - a paperwork-intensive regulatory framework for the EU - is hardly comforting. But the new rules, which go into effect on Thursday, will mark the biggest shake-up in the European financial industry since London’s Big Bang in 1986. The changes are mostly for the better. The goal is to open national markets for...