Third-country firms marketing directly

[ESMA 35-43-349 MiFID II Q&As on Investor protection Ch 13, question 4] No. The reverse solicitation exemption is based on the premise that the product or service is marketed at the client´s own exclusive initiative 1 and can only be applied to the specific product or service requested ("the requirement for authorisation under Article 39 shall not apply to the provision of that service or activity by the third-country firm").   Therefore, when providing a one-off investment service 2 to a client, the third-country firm may not sell to that client (without establishing a branch if so provided for by national law) a product or service from the same category 3 unless requested to do so by the client at its own exclusive initiative and only at the time the client asks for an investment product or service.   Therefore, during the course of a transaction, the firm may offer the client another product or service of the same category as the one requested by the client but not at a later stage unless the client specifically requests it at its own initiative (e.g. if the client contacts the third-country firm to buy a share, the firm could - at this moment in time - market to the client other shares from the same stock-exchange segment. However, the firm would not be entitled to market more shares to the client a month later, unless this is done through a branch). ------- 1. On this topic see Q&A 1 [Q&A 1862] of this Section. 2. On this topic see also Q&A 1 of Chapter 15 of this document.  3. On this topic see also Q&A 3 [Q&A 1864] of this Chapter.