​All investment firms in the European Union must have "a permanent and effective compliance function that operates independently", according to advice the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has sent to the European Commission. Responding to the consultation paper that ESMA published in the summer when the advice was still at a draft stage, some industry representatives expressed concern that requiring all firms, including smaller asset managers, to maintain a permanent and fully independent compliance function was disproportionate. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), while supporting permanent compliance functions in principle, warned that the requirement should be applied flexibly.

Peter Elstob, Compliance Complete