EC orders ESMA to revise MiFID II reforms

The European Commission has rejected three specific aspects of the MiFID II regulation on commodity and bond trading.

The Commission has asked the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which drew up the MiFID framework, to re-write three standards governing trading on commodities , exemptions for companies providing ancillary market services, and displaying prices in fixed income markets.

ESMA has just six weeks to revise the proposals, and has been ordered to take into account the European Parliament’s position more thoroughly.

“The latest drafts were far from being acceptable for the European Parliament,” said Markus Ferber, member of the European Parliament.

“The Commission is right to be afraid of the technical standards being rejected by the European Parliament – hence, further work is necessary.”

Earlier this year the EU delayed the implementation of the legislation by a year from its planned January 2017 date, and Ferber warned that the redrafting of the rules should not further delay the MiFID II timeline.

“The European Parliament’s concerns on this topic were known and available for quite some time. Therefore, Commission and ESMA could have easily acted earlier,” Ferber added.