On 20 December 2022, the EU member states’ representatives agreed a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on the proposed regulation reviewing the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).

The draft regulation aims to establish a centralised database or ‘consolidated tape’ which will provide access to market data from trading venues as well as systemic internalisers and approved publication arrangements across the EU in a consolidated manner. This will improve the overall price transparency across trading venues and will provide investors with easier access to trading data.

In addition, the draft regulation introduces a restriction of payments for routing client orders in the Union. The regulation leaves a discretion to Member States to allow this practice only in their territory. Furthermore, the draft regulation clarifies the limitation on the dark trading, lifting the complexity and the burden of the system.

In order, to ensure an adequate level of transparency, the text also modifies the deferral times for the size and liquidity profile of transaction bonds, structure products and emission allowances. Through this update, certain provisions about the investment firms trading on their own account are also strengthened, as they provide liquidity to the market even during market stress conditions.