The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA ) has published the final iteration of its technical standards (TS) on a number of integral components of post-crisis financial Regulation , i.e. the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR), according to an ESMA statement.
ESMA’s latest TS aims to articulate and clarify precisely how the legislation will come into effect for market participants, market infrastructures and national supervisors, a point of confusion earlier for a number of financial service providers that were seeking clarity on the compliance rules.
Its new technical standards will essentially alter the functioning of European financial markets – ESMA hopes the legislation will ultimately heighten levels of transparency and fortitude, whilst also granting a level of investor protection.
According to Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, in a recent statement on the TS publication, “The rules put out by ESMA today on MiFID II, MAR and CSDR will notably change the way Europe’s secondary markets function. And this will no doubt impact market participants and regulators alike. The magnitude of this change should not be underestimated. But the past has taught us that change is needed in order to make markets more transparent, efficient, and safer to invest in. This will entail a certain cost but we should not forget the other side of this equation, which is the great benefits safer and sounder markets will bring to everybody.”
The new TS features a multi-tiered approach to addressing several components of the regulation. The tranche of regulatory updates and newly launched rules can be read in full by accessing the following link.
Despite the release of ESMA’s latest TS, a draft with the aforementioned rules has been sent for endorsement by the European Commission. Consequently, the Commission will be granted three months to approve these measures – upon endorsement however, both the European Parliament and the Council have an objection period. MAR and MiFID II are presently slated to enter into effect in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
