Best Execution Policy

The concept of best execution in MiFID II is a lot broader then under MiFID I. MiFID II and MiFIR includes the following additional requirements:

- A wider scope of products. Next to Equity, MiFID II also includes best execution for Fixed Income, Listed Derivatives, and OTC Derivatives.
- Proof of best execution is more data driven and needs to be recorded.
- The setup of a MiFID II best execution compliant trading infrastructure is more demanding.

It’s clear that with the widening of the product scope, the burden to provide best execution becomes heavier. This is because the liquidity drivers are different between asset classes, e.g. most shares are priced throughout the day, a lot of bonds are not. Another problem is that derivatives are not fungible.T his means that, as an example, an option bought on EUREX cannot be sold on Euronext. Criteria under MiFID I the following execution factors needed to be taken into account:

- Price
- Size and/or nature of the order
- Probability of execution and settlement
- Costs
- Speed
- Any other consideration regarding the execution of the order.

These factors did not change under MIFID II. However, an investment firm under MIFID I had to take reasonable steps, under MIFID II it is required to take sufficient steps to provide best execution. This means that proof of best execution needs to be data driven and available at all times for the client and the regulator. Beside aforementioned execution factors the following information and procedures are required:

- A clear overview of the spectrum of markets and clearing solutions that have been considered and the explanation of the finally chosen solution.
- A clear description of the process to come to the best solution for, regular monitoring, the best execution and, the best trading infrastructure.

In order to comply with MiFID II AFS upgraded their execution procedures and designed in-house software named AFS BEST (Best Execution Solutions (MiFID) Two) to fulfill and record all the MiFID II execution requirements.