On December 30, 2020, HM Treasury (HMT) announced that the open access regime for exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs) introduced by the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) will continue to apply in the United Kingdom following the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020. In the European Union, the open access regime will be delayed through amendments to MiFIR included in the European Union’s CCP Resolution & Recovery Regulation; as this regulation was not finalized before the end of the transition period, the delay does not form part of retained EU law in the United Kingdom.

The MiFIR open access regime is intended to encourage greater non-discriminatory access between unaffiliated trading venues and central counterparties (CCPs), with a view to promoting greater competition in trading and clearing services and breaking so-called “vertical silos,” where a trading venue requires its trades to be cleared at a CCP under common ownership. Following the end of the transition period, HMT will review the relevant legislation and assess the suitability of the ETD open access arrangements for UK domestic markets.

HMT’s announcement is available here.