On 27 March 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a statement including practical guidance supporting the transition and consistent application of MiFID II and MiFIR in light of the changes introduced to them by Regulation 2024/791 (MiFIR review) and Directive 2024/790 (MiFID II review).
The statement complements the draft interpretative notice issued by the European Commission on 27 March 2024 and responds to queries received from market participants. In particular, the statement provides further guidance on the new rules that need to be supplemented by delegated regulations and those rules that are “self-executing” and do not need to be supplemented by delegated regulations to be effective.
The statement covers:
- The volume cap (single / double).
- Equity transparency.
- non-equity transparency.
- The systematic internaliser regime.
- Designated publishing entities.
- Reporting.
In relation to the volume cap, the statement notes that the MiFIR review replaces the double volume cap with a single volume cap. The MiFIR review specifies that the publication of trading data by ESMA and the monitoring of the trading subject to the single volume cap will apply from 18 months after the entry into force of the MiFIR review. In the meantime, the current double volume cap will continue applying covering both the reference price waiver and the negotiated trade waiver for liquid instruments based on MiFIR prior to the MiFIR review and Commission Delegated Regulation 2017/577.
The annex to the statement provides an overview of the impact of the MiFID II/MiFIR review on existing ESMA IT-systems and registers.
Next steps
ESMA will develop draft technical standards within the set deadlines. ESMA also intends to provide more detailed guidance, including a mapping of the applicable provisions in due course.