Brussels, 10 September 2020 | Europex launches today its new report: ‘The Impact of Financial Services Regulation on European Wholesale Energy Markets – A Post-MiFID II Analysis’, a collaboration between Europex and Norton Rose Fulbright LLP. Since the introduction of MiFID II / MiFIR in January 2018, the relationship between energy markets and financial services regulation has fundamentally changed. The main lesson from the last two and a half years of experience is that the broad brush of financial services regulation sometimes fails to reflect the specific nature of energy commodity markets. Against this backdrop, the report analyses the effects of
Read More
Brussels, 12 June 2020 | Europex fully supports the objectives of MiFID II / MiFIR and the G-20 Pittsburgh commitments to “improve the functioning and transparency of financial and commodity markets and address excessive commodity price volatility”. We equally agree with the general intention of the MiFIR pre-trade transparency regime which is meant to work towards this larger policy objective. However, we believe the current calibration of the illiquid (“IL”) and Large in Scale (“LIS”) waiver thresholds severely limits the development of niche and nascent contracts traded on secure and transparent exchanges and cleared through risk mitigating CCP clearing houses.
Read More
Brussels, 18 May 2020 | Europex fully supports the underlying policy objectives of MiFID II / MiFIR and the G-20 Pittsburgh commitments to “improve the functioning and transparency of financial and commodity markets and address excessive commodity price volatility”. However, more than two years after the MiFID II / MiFIR framework started to apply, we believe that these objectives have not yet fully materialised as far as commodity derivatives markets are concerned, notwithstanding the heavy burden already imposed on the industry. This concerns in particular the MiFID II position limits and position management regime as well as the MiFIR pre-trade
Read More
Brussels, 6 January 2020 | Europex, the Association of European Energy Exchanges, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the ESMA consultation paper on the MiFID II review report on position limits and position management in commodity derivatives. Europex has actively participated in previous MiFID related consultations, such as the call for evidence on position limits that took place last summer. While the review fulfils a legal obligation under MiFID II, this exercise is also a vital opportunity to assess the impact of position limits and position management on commodity derivatives markets and to ensure the regime is working in practice
Read More
Brussels, 5 July 2019 | Europex, the Association of European Energy Exchanges, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the ESMA call for evidence on position limits and position management in commodity derivatives. Europex has actively participated in previous public consultations on the MiFID II/MiFIR package, including on the position limit regime as well as on its implementing legislation and the related regulatory guidance. The present call for evidence offers an important opportunity to review the regime 18 months after its entry into application. Importantly, Europex supports the policy objectives of MiFID II/MiFIR to ensure transparency and prevent abuse in commodities
Read More
Brussels, 15 March 2019 | Europex, the Association of European Energy Exchanges, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the present consultation on MiFID II / MiFIR experiences1. In the following, we would like to share our concerns on three main aspects: 1) pre-trade transparency requirements for commodity derivatives, 2) position limits for commodity derivatives and 3) the scope of the hedging exemption in relation to the previous two points. 1) Pre-trade transparency requirements for commodity derivatives (MiFIR, Arts. 8 & 9) Europex members have long argued that the MiFIR pre-trade transparency regime in its present form is not fit for purpose
Read More
Brussels, 25 June 2018 | The purpose of this paper is to provide ESMA and National Competent Authorities with specific recommendations in support of their work with regard to amending certain parts of Regulation 2017/583 (‘RTS 2’)1, relating to the MiFIR pre-trade transparency regime for non- equity products. Europex members have long argued that, in its present form, the regime is not fit for purpose and cannot be applied to trade registration facilities in energy derivatives markets. Should these pre- arranged trades be no longer reported to regulated markets for clearing purposes, this would compromise their vital role in supporting
Read More
Brussels, 25 April 2018 |The purpose of the present paper is to provide ESMA and all interested National Competent Authorities (NCAs) with detailed information in support of their work in amending specific aspects of ‘RTS 2’ in relation to the MiFIR pre-trade transparency regime for non-equity instruments. Europex members have long argued that the MiFIR pre-trade transparency regime does not apply to trade registration. We consider that the regime in its present form is not fit for purpose and cannot be applied to trade registration facilities in energy derivatives markets without compromising their vital role in supporting the hedging activity
Read More
Brussels, 14 March 2018 | Europex welcomes the opportunity to take part in the “fitness check on supervisory reporting” of the European Commission and to discuss the effectiveness and efficiency of existing EU-level supervisory reporting requirements. We deeply believe in the simplification and streamlining of regulatory reporting. Electricity and gas derivative contracts are covered by reporting obligations stemming from four pieces of legislation: namely EMIR, MiFID II/MiFIR, REMIT and MAR. This constitutes a heavy reporting burden for energy exchanges and clearing houses as well as for market participants. Consequently, there is a need to streamline the requirements in order to
Read More