30/03/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) decided on Friday 27 March to maintain unchanged the date of application of transparency calculations for equity instruments under the MiFID/MiFIR framework. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some stakeholders have recently asked ESMA to extend the application date to 1 April 2020. “Having consulted with various market participants ESMA considers that delaying the application of the new transparency results would in itself entail some risks and might even create additional operational burdens to all the market participants that have already planned for them”, it said in a statement. ESMA nevertheless assures that it is aware of the seriousness of the situation and recalls that in recent weeks it has endeavoured to lighten the burden on market participants as much as possible through several statements. (MF)