About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

ESMA Relaxes Best Execution Reporting Requirements in Response to COVID-19

Subscribe to our newsletter

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has relaxed its requirements regarding the publication by execution venues and firms of the general best execution reports required under RTS 27 and 28 of MiFID II, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement issued on 31 March, the regulator noted that it was aware of the difficulties that venues and firms were encountering in preparing the reports, given the steps being taken to prevent contagion. It therefore has recommended that national authorities extend the 31 March deadline for RTS27 reports by three months to 30 June, 2020 (although recommends they be published “as soon as reasonably practicable”), with the same deadline also applying to RTS28 reports currently due by 30 April.

“In view of the exceptional circumstances, ESMA encourages national competent authorities not to prioritise supervisory action against execution venues and firms in respect of the deadlines of the general best execution reports for the periods referred to above,” says the regulator. “Furthermore, ESMA encourages competent authorities to generally apply a risk-based approach in the exercise of supervisory powers in their day-to-day enforcement of RTS 27 and 28 concerning these deadlines.”

The move has been met with relief by industry participants. ““The biggest ongoing regulatory challenges revolve around best execution and regulatory reporting,” confirms Chris Hollands, Head of European and North American Sales at TradingScreen, speaking to RegTech Insight. “As COVID-19 takes a stronghold on global markets, it is easy to understand why ESMA is relaxing requirements for RTS 27 and RTS 28. Investment managers need additional time to adjust to regulatory change, as opposed to preparing for new rules in the midst of this unprecedented period of market volatility and record volumes.”

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: FRTB Implementation in APAC: An industry update and what is left to do

Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) regulation, a set of proposals from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) for a new market risk-related capital requirement for banks, is due to be implemented across APAC over the next few years. Singapore and Japan, by way of example, have set implementation deadlines in 2024, while...

BLOG

Tallarium Secures Additional Investment from XTX Ventures and Reciprocal

Tallarium, a provider of specialised trade analytics for price discovery in off-exchange energy markets, has secured an additional $1.6million investment from XTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of algorithmic trading company XTX Markets, and Reciprocal, a venture capital firm. The investment will support the company’s goal of becoming the definitive pricing source for the energy...

EVENT

RegTech Summit London

Now in its 6th year, the RegTech Summit in London will bring together the RegTech ecosystem to explore how the European capital markets financial industry can leverage technology to drive innovation, cut costs and support regulatory change.

GUIDE

ESG Handbook 2023

The ESG Handbook 2023 edition is the essential guide to everything you need to know about ESG and how to manage requirements if you work in financial data and technology. Download your free copy to understand: What ESG Covers: The scope and definition of ESG Regulations: The evolution of global regulations, especially in the UK...