The study should carefully examine the effects of MiFID II research payment rules on SME research and fixed-income investment research, and in particular their impact on the amount and quality of research.

The study will cover four different aspects. First, it will describe the landscape of investment research for SMEs and fixed-income financial instruments in terms of actors (number of investment research providers, notably) in at least 12 Member States, as well as the regulatory landscape (and especially how the Member States have implemented the new MiFID II research payment provisions). Second, it will assess the impact of the new rules on portfolio managers (buy-side), in particular in terms of budget allocated to SME and fixed-income investment research, payment methods and the use of SME and fixed-income research by those portfolio managers. Third, the study will also assess the impact of MiFID II on the supply of SME and fixed-income research (sell-side). The contractor is required to look at the evolution of SME and fixed-income research coverage (before and after the entry into MiFID II) and at the changes in quality of investment research. Fourth, the study will also examine the effects of MiFID II research payment rules on the visibility of SMEs towards investors and the liquidity of SMEs' financial instruments.