MiFID comes into force on 1 November, 2007, and aims to boost competition throughout European capital markets and cut the costs of securities trading. But concern persists over the readiness of both firms and regulators in Europe to comply with the new directive.

Some of the EU's 27 states, including Spain and the Netherlands, will only barely be ready despite the Jan. 30, 2007 deadline for introducing MiFID into national law.

In fact, the new survey by UK-based ea Consulting Group, revealed that 40% of participants see a lack of certainty as the biggest threat MiFID poses to their business.

Steve Robson, managing director of ea Consulting Group says the striking lack of confidence in the directive's implementation needs to be addressed quickly.

"MiFID is designed to increase competition throughout European financial markets and create a level playing field – but if 93% believe that the playing-field won't be level, that's an issue that needs to be addressed quickly, and strategically, before next week's deadline of November 1," Robson said.

The financial consulting firm polled 85 executives from some of the UK's largest investment and financial services providers.

The survey found that 29% of those polled believe distraction from 'business as usual' activities to be the biggest threat, with regards to MiFID's implementation.

Only 6% said the cost of implementation presents the greatest threat.

Meanwhile, 34% of respondents felt compliance costs would increase the most, while 28% cited IT and systems costs. Some 13% said data capture and retention costs will see the biggest increase.

Earlier this week, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), the national market watchdogs in the European Union, unveiled measures to tackle legal issues during the introduction of MiFID.