On 15 December 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its MiFIR Review Final Report proposing amendments to MiFIR’s Level 2 provisions specifying the transparency requirements for derivatives, package orders, and input/output data for the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives consolidated tape.

Background

The Final Report follows ESMA’s earlier consultation, the MiFIR Review Consultation Package 4 published on 3 April 2025 covering the new MiFIR transparency regime for exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs) and OTC derivatives and the corresponding amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/583 on transparency for non-equity instruments (RTS 2).

Final Report

In the Final Report ESMA sets the approach for the liquidity determination relevant for pre-trade waivers and introduces amendments to post-trade transparency fields and flags. It also sets out proposals on the new deferral regime for ETDs and OTC derivatives, including the different size thresholds and deferral durations to be applied for post-trade transparency.

The Final Report also presents the final proposals to review Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2194 (Package order RTS) reflecting the new scope of derivatives and the liquidity determination. Furthermore it contains the final proposals deriving from ESMA’s new mandate to develop draft RTS prescribing data quality requirements for prospective consolidated tape providers (CTPs) and data contributors, covering the OTC derivatives tape.

Key changes

The key changes in the Final Report include:

  • Static liquidity and threshold model: ESMA proposes a move from periodic FITRS-based calculations to a static determination of liquidity and size thresholds for derivatives, embedded directly in RTS 2, and the discontinuation of transparency data reporting to FITRS.
  • Pre‑trade transparency scope and static LIS (central limit order book trading systems/periodic auctions; average daily notional amount for equity ETDs): ESMA confirms pre‑trade transparency applies only to central limit order books and periodic auctions, aligns the illiquid waiver with the new static liquidity determination, and sets static large‑in‑scale thresholds, re‑introducing ADNA bands for equity ETDs.
  • Post‑trade field changes for OTC derivatives: ESMA aligns instrument identification to the OTC identifier set by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1003 (instead of ISIN), adds “Effective date” and “Expiry date” for OTC interest rate derivatives, deletes the redundant “Transaction to be cleared” field, and keeps “real‑time” as a maximum five‑minute delay.
  • Re‑designed deferral regime and volume masking/flags: ESMA specifies sizes and durations for the five deferral categories across ETDs and OTC derivatives, requires masked‑volume publications to leave quantity/notional fields empty (no interim capped “50m+” print), and aligns post‑trade deferral flags (MLF1/MIF2/LLF3/LIF4/VLF5/VIF5).
  • CTP data scope and Package Order alignment: ESMA sets the regulatory and core market data that trading venues/Approved Publication Arrangements and the OTC derivatives CTP must transmit/disseminate, clarifies that exchange traded commodities/exchange traded notes are excluded from the bond CTP, and amends the Package Order RTS so a package is only treated as having a liquid market as a whole if all components are themselves subject to pre‑trade transparency.

Next steps

The Final Report has been submitted to the European Commission which has three months to decide whether to endorse the proposed amendments to the RTS.

ESMA proposes a single application date of 1 March 2027 for all derivatives-related changes: amendments to RTS 2 (derivatives transparency), the Package Order RTS, and the RTS specifying input/output data for the OTC derivatives consolidated tape.

The Commission Delegated Regulation on the OTC derivatives identifying reference data (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1003) mandates use from 1 September 2026.  However, ESMA clarifies that the new identifier should be used together with the revised transparency regime from 1 March 2027, aligning both changes on that date.