On September 28, 2015, ESMA published a final report and final draft RTS and ITS under the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation, together known as MiFID II. MiFID II applies from January 3, 2017. The 28 final draft standards cover: (i) pre- and post-transparency requirements for debt and equity securities; (ii) rules for investment firms and trading venues relating to algorithmic trading; (iii) data publication and access; (iv) requirements applying on and to trading venues; (v) the methodology for the calculation and application of position limits for commodity derivatives; (vi) when an activity is to be considered ancillary to the main business for the purposes of the commodity derivatives exemption; (vii) market data reporting and the reporting obligation; (viii) the clearing obligation for derivatives and timing for acceptance for clearing (STP); (ix) information requirements for best execution; and (x) rules for on non-discriminatory access to CCPs, trading venues and benchmarks. The final report and final draft standards have been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement.
The final report and technical standards are available at: http://www.esma.europa.eu/news/ESMA-readies-MiFID-II-MAR-and-CSDR?t=326&o=home.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.