
“Now is the time for companies operating in the money market and in order/contract management to get on with implementing the new financial markets directive MiFID II – both in their own interests and to gain greater client trust”, says our expert Markus Kossin, a consultant in the field of contact centres at IP Dynamics (MiFID = Markets in Financial Instruments Di-rective, 2004/39/EC).
BaFin, the supervisory authority for banks and financial service providers, insurance companies and securities trading in Germany, is responsible for the second amendment to the financial markets directive. The only companies that will be able to continue working are those verified as having the technology to incorporate the new regulations and requirements on all media channels. The European Union directive on harmonising the financial markets in the European domestic market concerns the following key aspects in the field of contact centres and will take effect on 3 January 2018.
- Obligation to create and retain records: the length of time required for keeping records has been increased from one to seven years (i.e. switch to configurable data retention directives).
- Media channels/co-browsers: synchronous voice call and screen recording (i.e. support for all browsers as well as the technical convergence of voice and screen data for synchronous recording).
- Technology/security: saving unchanged actions and spoken or written communication (i.e. saving everything together with no subsequent changes).
- Technology/access rights: who may or may not access records; who has accessed records and when (i.e. secure access checks and audit logs).
- Technology/encryption: industry-standard encryption and digital watermarks.
- Security standards: SSL certificates and PCI-DSS (i.e. compliance with security standards).
The advice from our expert Markus Kossin, who has already managed several projects, is clear: “Routing and statistics are not affected by MiFID. However, records of all PC and phone conversations and interactions have to be tracked, securely saved and retained under the new financial markets directive. Everything has to be transparent, continuously recorded and unchanged in order to comply with the revised financial markets directive.”
For contact centres and the use of Skype for Business, this means:
- Regardless of the type of communications channel (Skype for Business, fixed-line or mobile phone calls, emails and letters or verbal private contracts), there is an information and record-keeping requirement.
- This record-keeping requirement applies to all correspondence, consultations or orders and all internal communication, no matter what form, that is/may be/is intended to be used to conclude a money market or contractual transaction. The length of time required to keep records has also been increased from one to seven years. In technical terms, this specifically means that data from both standard contact centre media channels (calls, chat, email) and newer media channels such as co-browsing (call and on-screen interactions) or social media will have to be recorded and retained in even larger database systems.
- Moreover, for a legal transaction to be valid, every client must be informed that the interaction is being recorded at the beginning of the recording process. This is done via the modern systems and components of the contact centre for voice and information announcements.
IP Dynamics can provide you with a complete service package to ensure that you meet the requirements in 2017 ahead of the deadline. In addition to all the media channels for contact centres using the latest technology, you will receive:
- The necessary recording and quality management systems for all media channels.
- A comprehensive check and analysis of database capacities for retaining records and making recommendations.
- Proof of compliance with MiFID II regulations.
A check of existing resources together with expert opinions and recommendations is an integral component of the planning and implementation process.
Talk to us about ensuring your contact centre is compliant with MiFID II.