On October 27, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a press release announcing it had added UK venues to the list of third-country venues in respect of the opinions on post-trade transparency and position limits under Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) (the Press Release).

ESMA’s positive assessment follows a statement published on October 1 on the impact of Brexit relating to transparency and the position limits provisions under MiFIR and MiFID II.

Therefore, from January 1, 2021, EU investment firms will not be obligated to make transactions public in the EU if the transaction is executed on one of the UK trading venues on the transparency list. Additionally, commodity derivative contracts traded on UK trading venues will not be recognized as economically equivalent over-the-counter contracts for the EU position limit regime.

ESMA further updated its guidance on determining third-country trading venues for the purpose of transparency under MiFIR. It includes feedback received from market participants on identification of bonds, US treasuries and treatment of venues without a market identifier code.

The deadline for applying to the transparency list is November 10.

The Press Release is available here.