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The key points in the Consultation Paper are the following: 1) Increased pre-trade and post-trade transparen- cy requirements for trading venues and investment firms in respect of equity and equity-like financial instruments as well as non-equity instruments; 2) Trading obligation for shares and double volume cap mechanism for shares and equity-like instru- ments (a major change on the framework for trad- ing these instruments in the EU); 3) Provisions aiming at ensuring the non-discrim- inatory access to central counterparties (CCPs), trading venues and benchmarks and thus to in- crease competition in the EU;

5) Organisational requirements for firms providing investment advice on an independent basis (e.g. sufficient range of sufficiently diverse financial in- struments available on the market). 6) Specification of powers for ESMA and the nation- al competent authorities with regard to the prohibi- tion or restriction of the marketing and distribution of financial instruments. 1) Pre-trade transparency requirements for sys- tematic internalisers in non-equity instruments, in particular bonds, derivatives, structured finance products and emission allowances. 2) Specification of the quantitative elements of the definition of a systemic internaliser by reference to numerical thresholds. 3) Strict set of organisational requirements for in- vestment firms and trading venues as regards algo- rithmic and high frequency trading. II. Changes to the functioning of secondary markets

ESMA consults on draft RTS/ITS under MiFID II/MiFIR Background MiFID II and MiFIR were approved by the Euro- pean Parliament on 15 April 2014 and by the Council of the EU on 13 May 2014. The two texts were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 12 June 2014 and entered into force on 2 July 2014. MiFID II and MiFIR aim at bringing greater trans- parency and improve the overall functioning of the EU financial markets, thus strengthening investor protection. They cover both secondary markets and investor protection issues. On 22 May 2014, ESMA published a Discussion Paper on MiFID II/MiFIR ( AVAILABLE HERE ) in or- der to get stakeholder views on the draft regula- tory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS) that ESMA is required to submit to the European Commission under MiFID II/MiFIR. What’s in there? On 19 December 2014, ESMA launched a pub- lic consultation on draft RTS and ITS for the implementation of MiFID II and MiFIR through practically applicable rules. The consultation is of interest to all stakeholders involved in the se- curities markets. ESMA’s Consultation Paper follows the structure of the Discussion Paper published in May 2014 and is divided into 9 main sections: (1) Introduc- tion; (2) Investor Protection; (3) Transparency; (4) Microstructural issues; (5) Data publication and access; (6) Requirements applying on and to trading venues; (7) Commodity derivatives; (8) Market data reporting; and (9) Post-trading issues.

4) Introduction of position limits and relevant report- ing requirements as regards commodity derivatives;

5) Obligation to trade derivatives in MiFID venues only (i.e. regulated markets, multilateral trading fa- cilities or organised trading facilities).

ESMA’S CONSULTATION PAPER ON DRAFT RTS/ ITS UNDER MIFID II/MIFIR IS AVAILABLE HERE.

What’s next? The consultation will run from 19 December 2014 to 2 March 2015. On 19 February 2015, ESMA will hold an open hearing on the issues set out in the Consultation Paper. On the basis of the input received during the con- sultation, ESMA will finalise its draft RTS and ITS, which will be submitted to the European Commis- sion for endorsement (the RTS by mid-2015 and the ITS by January 2016). The Commission will use ESMA’s draft RTS/ITS in order to adopt the delegated acts required by MiFID II and MiFIR. MiFID II, MiFIR and their implementing measures will be applicable as from 3 January 2017.  PRIIPs - Publication of the PRIIPs Regulation in the Official Journal of the EU Background On 10 November 2014, the EU Council published a press release explaining the objectives and the content of the Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 of

4) Introduction of position limits and reporting re- quirements as regards commodity derivatives.

5) Obligation to trade derivatives on MiFID venues only (i.e. on regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities or organised trading facilities). 6) Requirements for a consolidated tape of trading data, including rules on tape providers, reporting, publication and sales of data.

THE TEXT OF ESMA’S FINAL TECHNICAL ADVICE TO THE COMMISSION IS AVAILABLE HERE.

What’s next? The Commission will use ESMA’s final technical ad- vice to adopt the delegated acts required by MiFID II and MiFIR. MiFID II, MiFIR and their implementing measures will be applicable as from 3 January 2017.

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