Under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), operators of regulated markets (RMs) and multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) must make public the current bid and offer prices and the depth of trading interests in respect of shares admitted to trading on an RM unless exemptions apply. However, MiFID allows competent authorities to waive the obligation for operators of RMs and MTFs regarding pre-trade transparency requirements for shares based on the market model or the type and size of orders.

MiFID allows competent authorities to grant four types of waivers which are contained in articles 18 and 20 of the MiFID Implementing Regulation. Possible waivers apply to reference price systems, negotiated trade systems, order management facilities and large-in-scale transactions.

The Committee of European Securities Regulators, the predecessor to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), published a document that set out its assessment of applications for waivers in order to foster supervisory convergence. ESMA has now published an updated document on waiver applications that includes a new opinion that relates to the submission of large-in-scale orders with two different price limits. The new opinion is written in red.

View Waivers from Pre-trade Transparency – CESR positions and ESMA opinions, 26 August 2015