Mifid II legislation has stumbled in the trialogue process, as EU lawmakers failed to reach agreement before the year end. The EC, the Parliament and the Council have to agree on a definitive  text- disagreement largely centred on proposals for caps on speculative commodity trading. The Commission advocates “extensive regulatory powers” for ESMA in this respect- […]

Yesterday, the Macroeconomic Assessment Group on Derivatives (MAGD) issued its second report prophesying the (necessarily) macroeconomic effects of planned regulatory reforms. The MAGD was set up under the auspices of the ODCG and comprises financial and economic “modelling experts” from central banks and other authorities. The 79 page report came to the unsurprising conclusion that, […]

No, not really. But a hat tip to yesterday’s article in Risk, questioning energy companies’ (perhaps rash) assumption that they will be classified as NFC- under EMIR. The regulation designates an entity as NFC- only if its 30-day rolling average position fails to trigger any of five gross notional thresholds- crossing any of which will […]

On the 22 June 2013, the Council of EU ministers under its ECOFIN guise issued a press release confirming inter alia the general approach on the MiFiD II / MIFIR proposals put forward by the Presidency on 19 June 2013. ECOFIN requested the Presidency to begin negotiations with the Parliament on the basis of the […]

On 19 June 2013, the Presidency of the Council of the EU published a note confirming that, at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) on 17 June 2013, agreement has been reached with respect to two proposed general approach documents, one for the MiFID II Directive and the other for MiFIR. The Council […]

On 17 June 2013, the EU Council published a press release confirming that the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER), on behalf of the Council, has agreed a position with respect to MiFID II.  The Council is expected to confirm this agreement, without discussion, at its meeting on 21 June 2013.  This will enable the trilogue process […]

Nearly two years after it was first proposed, MIFID II remains stalled.  EU President Ireland is attempting to break the deadlock with its 10th compromise proposal to date, published on 11 June 2013. The proposal covers three main areas of contention: Clearing houses/trading venues.  “Open access” – allowing clearing houses to clear on any venue. […]

New EU Presidency compromises on both MiFID and MiFIR (dated 4 June 2013) have been published in the Council Register.

On 9 May 2013, the EU Council published a note on the current state of play regarding MiFID II. The note confirms that there is currently no qualified majority supporting a compromise on the issue of access to trading venues and central counterparties (CCPs).  Articles 28 and 29 of MiFIR require CCPs to accept transactions […]