On 1 October, ESMA published a statement[1] saying that it intends to assess UK trading venues in relation to its opinions on MiFIR trade reporting[2] and commodity derivatives position limits[3].
If positively assessed, they will be added to the list of venues with a positive or partially positive assessment for the purposes of those opinions with effect from the end of the EU withdrawal transition period.
This means that EU investment firms trading on these UK venues would not need to publish details of those transactions through an Approved Publication Arrangement (APA) in the EU. Commodity derivatives traded on UK venues would also not be regarded as economically equivalent OTC contracts counting towards the EU commodity derivatives position limits regime.
In respect of UK requirements from the end of the EU withdrawal transition period, we confirm our position as set out in our public statements from 2019: we do not require UK investment firms that transact on trading venues outside the UK, in the EU or elsewhere, to publish details of those transactions through a UK APA.
We also do not consider commodity derivative contracts traded on trading venues, whether in the EU or elsewhere, as economically equivalent OTC contracts and so they will not count towards the UK commodity derivatives position limits regime.
We do not maintain a list of assessed overseas venues for these purposes.