18/09/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 15 September, the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) published the procedure to allow regulated stock exchanges to apply for a temporary exemption, for a period of 30 months renewable, to certain provisions of the MiFIR regulation on exchange-traded derivatives (see EUROPE 10997). The procedure stipulates the various steps - from notification to approval - when a regulated stock exchange applies for an exemption to the requirement to provide access to its data, in a transparent and non-discriminatory fashion, to the central counterparties responsible for clearing transactions carried out on its trading venue. It is worth noting that this exemption is available only to regulated stock exchanges trading an annual notional amount of derivatives below €1 trillion. They have until the end of September to notify ESMA of their opt-out application. (MF)