On 19 June 2017, ESMA published a consultation paper on the trading obligation for derivatives, as detailed in Articles 28 and 32 of MiFIR.[1]  The closing date for responses is 31 July 2017. By way of reminder, derivatives that are subject to the trading obligation under MiFIR may only be traded on: A Regulated Market; […]

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) has published two draft reports on the Commission’s proposals to postpone the application date of MiFID II, MiFIR, MAR and the CSDR. Both drafts state that the Parliament intends to adopt the proposals at first reading. The reports are accompanied by an explanatory statement by […]

Background EMIR introduced a clearing obligation in relation to “OTC derivative contracts” of any class that has been declared subject to a clearing obligation and which are transacted between particular types of counterparty[1].  MiFIR[2] extended the scope of the clearing obligation to all derivative transactions concluded on a regulated market.  There are three basic ways […]

In a rather last-minute bid for consistency among its own flagship pieces of legislation, ESMA has informed the EC that the final draft MiFIR RTS on exchange-traded derivatives will be delayed pending a re-write of its EMIR counterpart. Steven Maijoor writes to Jonathan Hill, his opposite number at the EC, “In the interest of preserving […]

Speaking at yesterday’s ISDA Europe conference, ESMA chief Steven Maijoor quelled widespread doubt that MiFIDII/MiFIR final draft RTS would be published on time, “I am very determined to make sure that we deliver in the month of September. We cannot predict how board meetings go but most of the work on MiFIDII/MiFIR in terms of […]

On 3 September 2014, the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) published four advices to ESMA on MiFID II: Investor protection Trading venues Transparency and trading obligations (equities) Transparency for the trading of non-equity instruments Following the example of the vast majority of participants who provided comments to the ESMA Consultation Paper on MiFID II, […]

MiFID II and MiFIR become law today following their publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ). This sets the seal on the legislative phase, while technical consultation with ESMA and the EBA is ongoing, as outlined in an earlier post. Importantly, publication in the OJ cements the date for the final application of […]

Signalling the next step in the protracted implementation of MiFID II/ MiFIR, the European Commission has published its request to the EBA (dated 16th May) for technical advice regarding intervention powers for structured deposits. This follows a 23rd April Mandate to ESMA for technical advice, as summarised in our earlier blog post. As MiFIR establishes a […]

The European Parliament has published its formal request to ESMA, asking for technical advice on the delegated and implementing acts of MiFIR and MiFID II. The request delineates which areas the technical advice will relate to: definition of derivatives contracts, conduct of business rules, organisational requirements, best execution, client order handling, and position management. The […]