Part III Trading, 12 EU Financial Governance and Transparency Regulation: A Test for the Effectiveness of Post-Crisis Administrative Governance

Subject(s):

Transparency Directive — Enforcement — Investment business — Regulated activities — Supervision — Liquidity

This chapter outlines the main features of the extensive new transparency regime which will apply to trading in a wide range of asset classes under MiFIR. By contrast with MiFID I, which limited transparency requirements to the equity markets and which contained extensive exemptions and waivers, MiFIR adopts a maximalist approach to transparency. The most extensive transparency requirements apply to the three forms of ‘trading venue’ for multilateral trading which are established under the MiFID II/MiFIR venue classification system (RM, MTF and OTF). Bilateral/OTC trading between counterparties is subject only to post-trade transparency requirements. Overall, MiFIR’s regulatory design has been shaped by a driving concern to protect liquidity, particularly in non-equity asset classes. Indeed, exemptions, waivers, suspensions, and calibrations, designed to protect liquidity, are a recurring feature of the new transparency regime.