IFAs wanting to trade in EEA face a significant number of hurdles at present. 

Firstly IFAs need to be an exempt CAD firm and not Article 3 MiFid exempt. Having achieved that they need to apply for authorisation under MiFid to trade in EEA – either on a cross border or branch basis. Thirdly they need to register for IMD work, and fourthly apply for authorisation to conduct IMD work across the border in EEA.

In addition AR firms need to duplicate this activity in full, as they are not recognised in EEA in the same way as in the UK. This makes, potentially, seven different authorisation applications to set up as an IFA in France.