With 45 votes in favour, 5 against and 9 abstentions, MEPs in the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) adopted, on Wednesday 1 March, their negotiating position on the revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). They also adopted their negotiating position on the revision of the MiFID Directive, with 52 votes in favour, 6 against and one abstention. They voted on the negotiating mandate and will go straight to the trilogues.
MEPs voted in favour of harmonised rules to enhance transparency of data quality standards and investor protection, optimise trading obligations and ban payment for order flow (‘PFOF’).
“A single consolidated tape (CT) for all asset classes - with a real-time pre-trade tape for equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) - will greatly increase the attractiveness of EU markets for European and international investors, both professional and retail”, welcomed rapporteur Danuta Hübner (EPP, Polish) in a statement.
This CT will combine sales volume and price data from different exchanges and consolidate it into a continuous live feed, providing a single reference price for each asset class - equities, exchange traded funds, bonds and derivatives - across all markets.
With the exception of small markets and SME growth markets, exchanges will have to provide pre- and post-trade information to a consolidated tape provider (CTP), as requested by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), according to a statement dated Tuesday 21 February.
This information should also be publicly available for a price based on the cost of producing the data and a reasonable margin. Retail investors, academics and civil society organisations using the data for research purposes and public authorities would have free access to the data.
“The text also simplifies and optimises the transparency framework, thereby reducing the regulatory burden on market participants”, Ms Hübner added, particularly with regard to limitations on trading without prior transparency, known as ‘dark trading’.
MEPs also added the possibility for market authorities to suspend trading on certain markets in case of emergency. For Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, French), this vote “is a victory in the fight led by the Greens/EFA group against excessive speculation on the financial markets”, she said in a statement, referring in particular to “the high volatility of commodity and energy prices over the past year”.
The Council of the EU had adopted its position in December (see EUROPE 13089/14). The trilogues are expected to start in April.
To see the European Parliament’s position on the MiFIR: https://aeur.eu/f/5ks
And the one on the MiFID: https://aeur.eu/f/5kt (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)