17/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - Postponement until 2018 of financial market transparency legislative package enacted. On Friday 17 June, the Council of the EU gave final approval to the postponement for one year (from January 2017 until January 2018) of the application of the MiFID-MiFIR legislative package, which seeks to increase financial market transparency (see EUROPE 11567). This legislative package requires standardised derivatives to be traded only in regulated trading venues (see EUROPE 10997). It will ensure that high frequency trading is subject to new prudential rules by means of monitoring trading and appropriate liquidity requirements for market-making operators. Member states will be able to introduce limits on net positions but not on all the contracts that an investor holds on commodity derivatives (wheat, soya, sugar), given their potential impact on prices. (MB)