The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a speech given by its executive director, Verena Ross. The speech is entitled The road to MiFID II.

Key points in the speech include:

  • whilst the proposed delay in application of MiFID II and MiFIR has brought ESMA further valuable time for ensuring that all implementing measures are in place ahead of the start of the new regime, it is important that market participants also take advantage of the additional time;
  • MiFIR introduces a trading obligation for derivatives thereby implementing the G20 commitment to trade standardised derivatives on trading platforms. ESMA has started working on the technical standard specifying the derivatives that should be subject to the trading obligation. Since this is new territory for ESMA, and following the example set by the clearing obligation, it intends to publish as a first step a Discussion Paper this summer. The Discussion Paper will lay out the overall approach for identifying which derivatives or classes of derivatives should be subject to the trading obligation as well as a first data analysis. As a next step ESMA will publish a Consultation Paper, probably at the beginning of 2017, which will then be followed by the submission of the final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) to the Commission in the summer of 2017;
  • in addition to the RTS on the trading obligation ESMA will still have to deliver a technical standard on the scope of the non-equity tape. It has started working on this and plans to consult in the summer;
  • in relation to ESMA’s work on level 3 measures and supervisory convergence its focus in the short term will be on the delivery of three mandatory set of guidelines on trading halts, the management body of market operators and the management body of data reporting services providers; and
  • ESMA is also working on Q&As, starting with those issues that market participants have signalled to it as the most urgent ones, such as the systematic internaliser regime, and the definition of organised trading facilities.

View The road to MiFID II – key note speech, 9 May 2016