Data Reporting: Market Structures and Regulatory Framework

The European legislature has identified weaknesses in the functioning and transparency of financial markets as major shortcomings of the regulatory framework under MiFID I. The new MiFID II/MiFIR regime essentially addresses these identified deficits by means of three regulatory measures: First, it considerably extends the scope and increases the stringency of the obligations with regard to pre- and post-trade transparency with a view to improving the quality of pre- and post-trade transparency data. Second, it instigates a shift towards increased trading on regulated trading venues or on other regulated platforms (more extensive market regulation and trading obligations) and, third, it extends the scope of reporting obligations vis-à-vis the supervisory authorities to enable better monitoring of the financial markets. The already extensive Level 1 requirements have been further specified by numerous pieces of highly detailed Level 2 legal acts. In addition, ESMA has already issued several guidelines and Q&As to harmonize supervisory practice. The resulting network of regulations poses immense challenges for legal practice - as is increasingly characteristic of European capital market law today. The paper sets out to shed some light on the subject.