The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released a consultation paper reviewing regulatory technical standards (RTS) under the updated Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). This paper addresses several key areas, particularly focusing on transparency requirements for non-equity instruments such as bonds, structured finance products (SFPs), and emission allowances (EUAs).
The consultation highlights proposed amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation. These include defining “central limit order book” and setting new thresholds for the large-in-scale (LIS) waiver for bonds, SFPs, and EUAs. It also suggests harmonising post-trade transparency reports and introducing specific post-trade field changes. Additionally, ESMA aims to clarify what constitutes a liquid market for various instruments and propose deferral durations for trades based on market liquidity and transaction size.
New RTS
Furthermore, ESMA proposes a new RTS for making pre- and post-trade data available on a reasonable commercial basis (RCB). This includes defining unbiased and fair contractual terms, ensuring non-discriminatory data access, and standardising data policy formats. It suggests a granular approach to setting RCB boundaries, detailing cost calculation methods for market data fees and urging the European Commission to regulate the redistribution of market data.
Another focus is on instrument reference data, with proposed amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation. These changes aim to align reference data reporting with transparency requirements and other regulatory standards like the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), The Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR), and the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR).
Final report
Stakeholders are invited to comment on the consultation paper by 28 August, using the provided response form. ESMA plans to submit a final report to the European Commission in December 2024 and will release additional consultation papers on MiFIR’s technical standards in the coming weeks.
