Article 1 Scope
1. This Directive shall apply to investment firms, market operators, data reporting services providers, and third-country firms providing investment services or performing investment activities through the establishment of a branch in the Union. 2. This Directive establishes requirements in relation to the following: (a) authorisation and operating conditions for investment firms; (b) provision of investment services or activities by third-country firms through the establishment of a branch; (c) authorisation and operation of regulated markets; (d) authorisation and operation of data reporting services providers; and (e) supervision, cooperation and enforcement by competent authorities. 3. The following provisions shall also apply to credit institutions authorised under Directive 2013/36/EU, when providing one or more investment services and/or performing investment activities: (a) Article 2(2), Article 9(3) and Articles 14 and 16 to 20, (b) Chapter II of Title II excluding second subparagraph of Article 29(2), (c) Chapter III of Title II excluding Article 34(2) and (3) and Article 35(2) to (6) and (9), (d) Articles 67 to 75 and Articles 80, 85 and 86. 4. The following provisions shall also apply to investment firms and to credit institutions authorised under Directive 2013/36/EU when selling or advising clients in relation to structured deposits: (a) Article 9(3), Article 14, and Article 16(2), (3) and (6); (b) Articles 23 to 26, Article 28 and Article 29, excluding the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 thereof, and Article 30; and (c) Articles 67 to 75. 5. Article 17(1) to (6) shall also apply to members or participants of regulated markets and MTFs who are not required to be authorised under this Directive pursuant to points (a), (e), (i) and (j) of Article 2(1). 6. Articles 57 and 58 shall also apply to persons exempt under Article 2. 7. All multilateral systems in financial instruments shall operate either in accordance with the provisions of Title II concerning MTFs or OTFs or the provisions of Title III concerning regulated markets. Any investment firms which, on an organised, frequent, systematic and substantial basis, deal on own account when executing client orders outside a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF shall operate in accordance with Title III of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014. Without prejudice to Articles 23 and 28 of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014, all transactions in financial instruments as referred to in the first and the second subparagraphs which are not concluded on multilateral systems or systematic internalisers shall comply with the relevant provisions of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Broadening access to market-based sources of financing for European companies at each stage of their development is at the heart of the Capital Markets Union (CMU). Since the launch of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan, the EU has made considerable progress to increase the sources of funding as firms gradually scale up, and make market-based finance more widely available across the EU. New rules are already in place to boost EU venture capital funds’ (EuVECA) investment in start-ups and medium-sized companies. Together with the European Investment Fund, the Commission has also launched a Pan-European Venture Capital Funds-of-Funds programme (VentureEU) to boost investment in innovative start-up and scale-up companies across Europe. New rules on prospectuses have already been adopted to support companies raising money on public markets for equity and debt. For small companies and mid-caps wishing to raise money across the EU, a new EU growth prospectus is being created. In addition, to increase access to finance for start-ups and entrepreneurs, the Commission has proposed a European label for investment-based and lending-based crowdfunding platforms ('European Crowdfunding Service Providers for Business'). However, more needs to be done to develop a more conducive regulatory framework supporting access to public funding for Small and Mid-sized Enterprises ( SMEs). This should be achieved in particular by promoting the SME Growth Market label created by the Markets in Financial Instrument Directive II (MiFID II) 1 and striking the right balance between investor protection and market integrity on the one hand, and avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens on the other. In the Mid-term Review of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan 2 of June 2017, the Commission strengthened the focus on SME access to public markets. In this context, the Commission committed to publishing 'an impact assessment that will explore whether targeted amendments to relevant EU legislation could deliver a more proportionate regulatory environment to support SME listing on public markets' . Newly listed Small and Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are a key motor of investment and job creation. Recently listed companies often outstrip privately-owned companies in terms of annual growth and workforce increase. Listed companies are less dependent on bank financing and benefit from a more diversified investment-base, easier access to additional equity capital and debt finance (through secondary offers), and a higher public profile and brand recognition. However, despite the benefits, EU public markets for SMEs are struggling to attract new issuers. The number of Initial Public Offerings on SME-dedicated markets steeply declined in the European Union in the wake of the crisis, and did not significantly pick up since. As a result, Europe is producing only half of the SME Initial Public Offerings that it generated before the financial crisis (478 Initial Public Offerings on average per year in 2006-2007 vs. 218 between 2009 and 2017 on EU SME MTFs). Between 2006 and 2007, an average of EUR 13.8 billion was raised annually on European SME-dedicated MTFs through Initial Public Offerings. This amount fell to EUR 2.55 billion on average from 2009 to 2017. There are many factors driving SMEs' decision to go public and investors' decision to invest in SME financial instruments. The impact assessment 3 shows that public markets for SMEs face two groups of regulatory challenges: (i) on the supply side, issuers face high compliance costs to list on public markets; (ii) on the demand side, insufficient liquidity can weigh on issuers (due to higher costs of capital), on investors (that can be reluctant to invest in SME in the first place due to low liquidity levels and related volatility risks) and on market intermediaries (whose business models rely on customers order flow in liquid markets). Scope of the initiative: SME Growth Markets This initiative is strictly confined to SME Growth Markets 4 and companies listed on those trading venues. SME Growth Markets are a new category of multilateral trading venues (MTFs) that were introduced by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II in January 2018. When assessing whether SME issuers admitted to trading on regulated markets should benefit from equivalent regulatory alleviations, the decision was made to limit the beneficiaries of the relief to issuers admitted to trading on SME Growth Markets. Requirements imposed on regulated market issuers should apply in a similar way regardless of the size of the company. Different requirements for SMEs compared to large caps are likely to confuse stakeholders (in particular investors). Current regulatory context Companies listed on an SME Growth Market are required to comply with some EU rules, especially the Market Abuse Regulation 5 (MAR) and the Prospectus Regulation 6 . Since its entry into application on 1 July 2016, the Market Abuse Regulation has been extended to MTFs, including SME Growth Markets. This regulation aims to increase market integrity and investor confidence. It prohibits from: (i) engaging or attempting to engage in insider dealing; (ii) recommending that another person engage in insider dealing or induce another person to engage in insider dealing; (iii) unlawfully disclosing inside information 7 ; or (iv) engaging in or attempting to engage in market manipulation. Issuers are also subject to several disclosure and record-keeping obligations under the regulation. In particular, concerned issuers are under a general obligation to disclose inside information to the public as soon as possible. By strengthening market integrity and by extending the market abuse regime to MTFs, the Market Abuse Regulation was crucial in restoring investor confidence in financial markets. However, this piece of legislation is a 'one-size-fits-all' regulation. Almost all its requirements apply in the same manner to all issuers irrespective of their size or the trading venues where their financial instruments are admitted to trading. The regulation contains only two limited adaptations to issuers listed on SME Growth Markets. The first allows trading venues operating an SME Growth Market to post inside information on the trading venue's website (instead of the issuer's website). The second allows issuers listed on SME Growth Markets to produce insider lists only upon request from a national competent authority (NCA). However, the effect of this alleviation is limited because companies are still required to gather and store all relevant information to be able to produce insider lists on request. A prospectus is a legally required document presenting information about a company when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market. Under the CMU Action Plan, the European Union has already made it easier and cheaper for smaller companies to access public markets, notably with the creation of the alleviated 'EU Growth Prospectus' in the revised Prospectus Regulation. An issuer may seek an admission to trading on a regulated market after having floated its shares on an SME Growth Market for a few years. It may do so to benefit from greater liquidity and a larger investor pool. However, if that issuer wants to transfer its shares from an SME Growth Market to a regulated market, it needs to produce a full prospectus as no alleviated prospectus schedule is available for companies in such a situation. The take-up of the SME Growth Market 'brand' is constrained by the limited number of alleviations currently envisaged in EU legislation for the issuers listed on this new type of trading venues. The overall objectives of this initiative is therefore to introduce technical adjustments to the EU rulebook in order to: (i) reduce the administrative burden and the regulatory compliance costs faced by SMEs when their financial instruments are admitted to trading on an SME Growth Market, while ensuring a high level of investor protection and market integrity; and (ii) increase the liquidity of equity instruments listed on SME Growth Markets. These targeted regulatory changes foreseen in this proposal will not fully revive access to public markets for SMEs on their own. Nevertheless, they address regulatory barriers flagged by various stakeholders as inhibiting capital-raising by SMEs on public markets. They do so whilst preserving the highest standards of investor protection and market integrity . Any changes should therefore be understood as a first step in the right direction, and not as a single remedy in itself. Besides, this proposal for a Regulation is not an overhaul of the Market Abuse Regulation (which has been into application for less than two years) or the Prospectus Regulation (which has been recently agreed by the co-legislators and which will enter into application as of July 2019). This proposal (together with the modifications envisaged in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565) only brings technical amendments to make the EU legal framework applying to listed SMEs more proportionate. It will ensure that the 'SME Growth Market' label, created by MiFID II as of January 2018, is used by the various MTFs with a focus on SMEs across the EU. 
Revised version (Article 1 Scope):
1. This Directive shall apply to investment firms, market operators, data reporting services providers, and third-country firms providing investment services or performing investment activities through the establishment of a branch in the Union. 2. This Directive establishes requirements in relation to the following: (a) authorisation and operating conditions for investment firms; (b) provision of investment services or activities by third-country firms through the establishment of a branch; (c) authorisation and operation of regulated markets; (d) authorisation and operation of data reporting services providers; and (e) supervision, cooperation and enforcement by competent authorities. 3. The following provisions shall also apply to credit institutions authorised under Directive 2013/36/EU, when providing one or more investment services and/or performing investment activities: Article 2(2), Article 9(3) and Articles 14 and 16 to 20, (b) Chapter II of Title II excluding second subparagraph of Article 29(2),
Article 2 Exemptions
1. This Directive shall not apply to: (a) insurance undertakings or undertakings carrying out the reinsurance and retrocession activities referred to in Directive 2009/138/EC when carrying out the activities referred to in that Directive; (b) persons providing investment services exclusively for their parent undertakings, for their subsidiaries or for other subsidiaries of their parent undertakings; (c) persons providing an investment service where that service is provided in an incidental manner in the course of a professional activity and that activity is regulated by legal or regulatory provisions or a code of ethics governing the profession which do not exclude the provision of that service; (d) persons dealing on own account in financial instruments other than commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof and not providing any other investment services or performing any other investment activities in financial instruments other than commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof unless such persons: (i) are market makers; (ii) are members of or participants in a regulated market or an MTF or have direct electronic access to a trading venue; (iii) apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; or (iv) deal on own account when executing client orders; Persons exempt under points (a), (i) or (j) are not required to meet the conditions laid down in this point in order to be exempt. (d) persons dealing on own account in financial instruments other than commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof and not providing any other investment services or performing any other investment activities in financial instruments other than commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof unless such persons: (i) are market makers; (ii) are members of or participants in a regulated market or an MTF or have direct electronic access to a trading venue; (iii) apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; or (iv) deal on own account when executing client orders; Persons exempt under points (a), (i) or (j) are not required to meet the conditions laid down in this point in order to be exempt. (e) operators with compliance obligations under Directive 2003/87/EC who, when dealing in emission allowances, do not execute client orders and who do not provide any investment services or perform any investment activities other than dealing on own account, provided that those persons do not apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; (f) persons providing investment services consisting exclusively in the administration of employee-participation schemes; (g) persons providing investment services which only involve both the administration of employee-participation schemes and the provision of investment services exclusively for their parent undertakings, for their subsidiaries or for other subsidiaries of their parent undertakings; (h) the members of the ESCB and other national bodies performing similar functions in the Union, other public bodies charged with or intervening in the management of the public debt in the Union and international financial institutions established by two or more Member States which have the purpose of mobilising funding and providing financial assistance to the benefit of their members that are experiencing or threatened by severe financing problems; (i) collective investment undertakings and pension funds whether coordinated at Union level or not and the depositaries and managers of such undertakings; (j) persons: (i) dealing on own account, including market makers, in commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof, excluding persons who deal on own account when executing client orders; or (ii) providing investment services, other than dealing on own account, in commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof to the customers or suppliers of their main business; provided that: — for each of those cases individually and on an aggregate basis this is an ancillary activity to their main business, when considered on a group basis, and that main business is not the provision of investment services within the meaning of this Directive or banking activities under Directive 2013/36/EU, or acting as a market-maker in relation to commodity derivatives, — those persons do not apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; and — those persons notify annually the relevant competent authority that they make use of this exemption and upon request report to the competent authority the basis on which they consider that their activity under points (i) and (ii) is ancillary to their main business; (j) persons: (i) dealing on own account, including market makers, in commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof, excluding persons who deal on own account when executing client orders; or (ii) providing investment services, other than dealing on own account, in commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof to the customers or suppliers of their main business; provided that: — for each of those cases individually and on an aggregate basis this is an ancillary activity to their main business, when considered on a group basis, and that main business is not the provision of investment services within the meaning of this Directive or banking activities under Directive 2013/36/EU, or acting as a market-maker in relation to commodity derivatives, — those persons do not apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; and — those persons notify annually the relevant competent authority that they make use of this exemption and upon request report to the competent authority the basis on which they consider that their activity under points (i) and (ii) is ancillary to their main business; (k) persons providing investment advice in the course of providing another professional activity not covered by this Directive provided that the provision of such advice is not specifically remunerated; (l) associations set up by Danish and Finnish pension funds with the sole aim of managing the assets of pension funds that are members of those associations; (m) ‘agenti di cambio’ whose activities and functions are governed by Article 201 of Italian Legislative Decree No 58 of 24 February 1998; (n) transmission system operators as defined in Article 2(4) of Directive 2009/72/EC or Article 2(4) of Directive 2009/73/EC when carrying out their tasks under those Directives, under Regulation (EC) No 714/2009, under Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 or under network codes or guidelines adopted pursuant to those Regulations, any persons acting as service providers on their behalf to carry out their task under those legislative acts or under network codes or guidelines adopted pursuant to those Regulations, and any operator or administrator of an energy balancing mechanism, pipeline network or system to keep in balance the supplies and uses of energy when carrying out such tasks. That exemption shall apply to persons engaged in the activities set out in this point only where they perform investment activities or provide investment services relating to commodity derivatives in order to carry out those activities. That exemption shall not apply with regard to the operation of a secondary market, including a platform for secondary trading in financial transmission rights; (n) transmission system operators as defined in Article 2(4) of Directive 2009/72/EC or Article 2(4) of Directive 2009/73/EC when carrying out their tasks under those Directives, under Regulation (EC) No 714/2009, under Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 or under network codes or guidelines adopted pursuant to those Regulations, any persons acting as service providers on their behalf to carry out their task under those legislative acts or under network codes or guidelines adopted pursuant to those Regulations, and any operator or administrator of an energy balancing mechanism, pipeline network or system to keep in balance the supplies and uses of energy when carrying out such tasks. That exemption shall apply to persons engaged in the activities set out in this point only where they perform investment activities or provide investment services relating to commodity derivatives in order to carry out those activities. That exemption shall not apply with regard to the operation of a secondary market, including a platform for secondary trading in financial transmission rights; (o) CSDs except as provided for in Article 73 of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 42 ). 2. The rights conferred by this Directive shall not extend to the provision of services as counterparty in transactions carried out by public bodies dealing with public debt or by members of the ESCB performing their tasks as provided for by the TFEU and by Protocol No 4 on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank or performing equivalent functions under national provisions. 3. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to clarify for the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 1 when an activity is provided in an incidental manner. 4. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify, for the purposes of point (j) of paragraph 1, the criteria for establishing when an activity is to be considered to be ancillary to the main business at a group level. Those criteria shall take into account at least the following elements: (a) the need for ancillary activities to constitute a minority of activities at a group level; (b) the size of their trading activity compared to the overall market trading activity in that asset class. In determining the extent to which ancillary activities constitute a minority of activities at a group level ESMA may determine that the capital employed for carrying out the ancillary activity relative to the capital employed for carrying out the main business is to be considered. However, that factor shall in no case be sufficient to demonstrate that the activity is ancillary to the main business of the group. The activities referred to in this paragraph shall be considered at a group level. The elements referred to in the second and third subparagraphs shall exclude: (a) intra-group transactions as referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 that serve group-wide liquidity or risk management purposes; (b) transactions in derivatives which are objectively measurable as reducing risks directly relating to the commercial activity or treasury financing activity; (c) transactions in commodity derivatives and emission allowances entered into to fulfil obligations to provide liquidity on a trading venue, where such obligations are required by regulatory authorities in accordance with Union law or with national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, or by trading venues. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 3 July 2015. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 1.1. Reasons for the proposal Directive 2014/65/EU (‘MiFID’) together with Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (‘MiFIR’) was adopted in the wake of the financial crisis. MiFID and MiFIR, collectively referred to as MiFID II, covers securities markets, investment intermediaries and trading venues. The new framework reinforces and replaces the current MiFID framework. MiFID II extends the number of financial instruments covered by trading rules and ensures that trading takes place on regulated platforms. It introduces rules on high frequency trading. It improves the transparency and oversight of financial markets – including derivatives markets - and addresses the issue of price volatility in commodity derivatives. The new framework improves conditions for competition in the trading and clearing of financial instruments. Building on the rules already in place, the revised MiFID rules also strengthen the protection of investors by introducing robust organisational and conduct of business requirements. The MiFID II package consists of a Directive and a Regulation. Member States need to transpose the Directive by 3 July 2016. Both MiFID and MiFIR are scheduled to apply as of 3 January 2017. The purpose of the draft proposal is to extend the entry into application of both instruments that are comprised in the MIFID II package as a result of the technical implementation challenges met by the European Securities and Markets Authority ('ESMA'), national competent authorities ('NCAs') and stakeholders. These challenges are of such magnitude that essential data infrastructures will not be in place in time for 3 January 2017. During the legislative process, the very high level of complexity of the MiFID II package and the need for a significant number of implementing measures were recognised. To this end, a period of 30 months was foreseen between the adoption and the entry into application, instead of the usual 18-24 months. Despite this unusually long period, ESMA has made clear to the Commission that the technical implementing challenges are of such magnitude that essential data infrastructures will not be in place in time for 3 January 2017. If the date of entry into application remains unchanged, this would mean, in practice, that neither competent authorities, nor market participants, would be in a position to apply the new rules on 3 January 2017. This would lead to legal uncertainty and potential market disruption. In light of these exceptional circumstances and the particular technical implementation challenges faced by ESMA and the competent authorities in this specific case, the Commission deems it necessary to extend the entry into application of both instruments that are comprised in MIFID II. Such extension shall be strictly limited to what is necessary to allow the technical implementation work to be finalised. 1.2 The 'data' challenge ESMA have informed the Commission that neither they nor NCAs will be in a position to apply MiFID II as of 3 January 2017. This is a result of significant challenges in collecting the data that is necessary for the operation of the MiFID II rules. In order to ensure legal certainty and avoid potential market disruption, urgent action is therefore needed to adjust the date of entry into application for MiFID II. The reasons for the urgency are linked to the need to establish new and extensive electronic data collection networks between trading venues, national regulators and ESMA. The new framework requires trading venues and systematic internalisers to provide competent authorities with financial instrument reference data that describes in a uniform manner the characteristics of every financial instrument subject to the scope of MiFID II. Additional data are also used for other purposes, in particular for the calculation of various liquidity and transparency thresholds used for on-venue trading of all financial instruments covered by MiFID as well as for positions reporting of commodity derivatives. In order to collect data in an efficient and harmonised manner, a new data collection infrastructure must be developed. This obliges ESMA, in conjunction with competent national authorities, to establish a Financial Instruments Reference Data System ('FIRDS'). FIRDS will need to cover the entire range of financial instruments that are included in the increased scope of MiFID II. In accomplishing this task, FIRDS will necessitate linking of data feeds between ESMA, NCAs and around 300 trading venues across the European Union. The vast majority of the new IT-systems underpinning FIRDS will need to be built from the ground, based on new parameters. The Commission recognises that as a result of the size and complexity of the data needed to be collected and processed for MiFID II to become operational, in particular for transaction reporting, transparency calculations and reporting of positions in commodity derivatives, neither stakeholders, such as trading platforms, nor NCAs nor ESMA are in a position to ensure that the necessary data collection infrastructures would be in place and become operational by 3 January 2017. Therefore, on 2 October 2015 ESMA informed the Commission that a delay in the technical implementation of MiFID II was unavoidable. 1.3. The scope of the proposal The absence of data has ramifications across multiple areas of MIFID II. As regards market regulation, it is clear that without the foundation of reference data (instrument ID) and the additional data infrastructures for transparency calculations and position reporting in place, it will not be possible to apply the majority of the market rules. In particular:  Transaction reporting : without reference data, there will be challenges to determine what instruments are within the scope. In addition, the necessary infrastructure for market participants to report to their competent authorities will not be available.  Transparency framework : the trade transparency rules for all financial instruments (equity as well as non-equity) cannot be established and applied. In addition, the calculations and thresholds for the liquidity assessment, waivers, deferred publication and, in the equity area, the double volume cap (which limits dark trading) cannot be established.  Commodity derivatives : in the absence of position reporting for commodity derivatives it will be very difficult to enforce position limits on such commodity derivative contracts. With no position reporting, there is a limited ability to effectively detect breaches of positon limits.  Microstructural regulation: many of the requirements in relation to algorithmic trading/high frequency trading are by their nature dependent on data. In particular, the key provisions on tick-size regime and the obligations in relation to market making obligations and schemes are also tailored on there being a liquid market as determined under the transparency framework. The investor protection rules, the conduct of business rules and certain associated organisational requirements under MIFID II will not be directly affected by the lack of data. The important exception is the rules on best execution , where the scope of the disclosure is designed by reference to there being a liquid market and other transparency concepts. For other investor protection rules, aside from issues relating to the definition of financial instruments or the scope of the legislation, data inter-linkages generally do not exist, as these rules directly concern distribution and not trading. It is, therefore, recognised that an alternative approach would be to extend the date of entry into application only for the parts of the legislation directly relating to data collection. However, after a careful analysis of that option, it appears that an extension for the whole package, including investor protection rules, as opposed to a staggered approach is preferable:  It avoids the risk of causing confusion and unnecessary costs that stakeholders would incur through a staggered implementation. Building various infrastructures simultaneously – as opposed to doing so in stages - would make the process more cost effective. For example, it avoids situations, where investment firms, involved in execution of orders, would have to set up organisational requirements/conduct rules in stages, which would be complicated, expensive and costly;  It avoids having to delineate between the areas that can be immediately implemented and those that cannot be, and, therefore, avoids the risk of causing unintended consequences which may not have been foreseen or sufficiently considered; and  It avoids the need for transitional rules, which by themselves would create new issues and divert resources of ESMA, NCAs and stakeholders from building the permanent framework. On the basis of the above considerations, extending the entry into application for the entire MiFID II rulebook is therefore necessary and justified. 1.4. Length of the extension An extension of one year should provide sufficient and reasonable time for ESMA, NCAs and operators to put in place the infrastructure for data collection, reporting and the transparency threshold calculations. There are five steps in the implementation process: (1) business requirements (which in this case are the necessary regulatory technical standards/implementing technical standards), (2) specifications, (3) development (4) testing and (5) deployment. ESMA estimates that it should complete these steps in relation to the reference data, transparency calculations and position reporting systems by January 2018. This assumes that there is sufficient legal clarity on the final requirements under the relevant regulatory technical standards by mid-2016. On this basis, the draft proposal therefore extends the entry into application of the whole framework until 3 January 2018 by one year. The extension of entry into application of the measures of the Member States transposing Directive 2014/65/EU should not impact adoption of delegated acts and technical standards to be developed under Directive 2014/65/EU. The Commission should adopt these measures in accordance with the procedure envisaged in order to allow the industry to set up and adjust internal systems to ensure compliance with new requirements on the date of entry into application of Directive 2014/65/EU.
Revised version (Article 2 Exemptions):
1. This Directive shall not apply to: (a) insurance undertakings or undertakings carrying out the reinsurance and retrocession activities referred to in Directive 2009/138/EC when carrying out the activities referred to in that Directive; (b) persons providing investment services exclusively for their parent undertakings, for their subsidiaries or for other subsidiaries of their parent undertakings; (c) persons providing an investment service where that service is provided in an incidental manner in the course of a professional activity and that activity is regulated by legal or regulatory provisions or a code of ethics governing the profession which do not exclude the provision of that service; (d) persons dealing on own account in financial instruments other than commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof and not providing any other investment services or performing any other investment activities in financial instruments other than commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof unless such persons: (i) are market makers; (ii) are members of or participants in a regulated market or an MTF, on the one hand, or have direct electronic access to a trading venue, on the other hand, except for non-financial entities who execute transactions on a trading venue which are objectively measurable as reducing risks directly relating to the commercial activity or treasury financing activity of those non-financial entities or their groups; (iii) apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; or (iv) deal on own account when executing client orders; Persons exempt under points (a), (i) or (j) are not required to meet the conditions laid down in this point in order to be exempt. (e) operators with compliance obligations under Directive 2003/87/EC who, when dealing in emission allowances, do not execute client orders and who do not provide any investment services or perform any investment activities other than dealing on own account, provided that those persons do not apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; (f) persons providing investment services consisting exclusively in the administration of employee-participation schemes; (g) persons providing investment services which only involve both the administration of employee-participation schemes and the provision of investment services exclusively for their parent undertakings, for their subsidiaries or for other subsidiaries of their parent undertakings; (h) the members of the ESCB and other national bodies performing similar functions in the Union, other public bodies charged with or intervening in the management of the public debt in the Union and international financial institutions established by two or more Member States which have the purpose of mobilising funding and providing financial assistance to the benefit of their members that are experiencing or threatened by severe financing problems; (i) collective investment undertakings and pension funds whether coordinated at Union level or not and the depositaries and managers of such undertakings; (j) persons: (i) dealing on own account, including market makers, in commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof, excluding persons who deal on own account when executing client orders; or (ii) providing investment services, other than dealing on own account, in commodity derivatives or emission allowances or derivatives thereof to the customers or suppliers of their main business; provided that: — for each of those cases individually and on an aggregate basis this is an ancillary activity to their main business, when considered on a group basis, and that main business is not the provision of investment services within the meaning of this Directive or banking activities under Directive 2013/36/EU, or acting as a market-maker in relation to commodity derivatives, — those persons do not apply a high-frequency algorithmic trading technique; and — those persons notify annually the relevant competent authority that they make use of this exemption and upon request report to the competent authority the basis on which they consider that their activity under points (i) and (ii) is ancillary to their main business; (k) persons providing investment advice in the course of providing another professional activity not covered by this Directive provided that the provision of such advice is not specifically remunerated; (l) associations set up by Danish and Finnish pension funds with the sole aim of managing the assets of pension funds that are members of those associations; (m) ‘agenti di cambio’ whose activities and functions are governed by Article 201 of Italian Legislative Decree No 58 of 24 February 1998; (n) transmission system operators as defined in Article 2(4) of Directive 2009/72/EC or Article 2(4) of Directive 2009/73/EC when carrying out their tasks under those Directives, under Regulation (EC) No 714/2009, under Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 or under network codes or guidelines adopted pursuant to those Regulations, any persons acting as service providers on their behalf to carry out their task under those legislative acts or under network codes or guidelines adopted pursuant to those Regulations, and any operator or administrator of an energy balancing mechanism, pipeline network or system to keep in balance the supplies and uses of energy when carrying out such tasks. That exemption shall apply to persons engaged in the activities set out in this point only where they perform investment activities or provide investment services relating to commodity derivatives in order to carry out those activities. That exemption shall not apply with regard to the operation of a secondary market, including a platform for secondary trading in financial transmission rights; (o) CSDs except as provided for in Article 73 of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ). 2. The rights conferred by this Directive shall not extend to the provision of services as counterparty in transactions carried out by public bodies dealing with public debt or by members of the ESCB performing their tasks as provided for by the TFEU and by Protocol No 4 on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank or performing equivalent functions under national provisions. 3. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to clarify for the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 1 when an activity is provided in an incidental manner. 4. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify, for the purposes of point (j) of paragraph 1, the criteria for establishing when an activity is to be considered to be ancillary to the main business at a group level. Those criteria shall take into account at least the following elements: (a) the need for ancillary activities to constitute a minority of activities at a group level; (b) the size of their trading activity compared to the overall market trading activity in that asset class. In determining the extent to which ancillary activities constitute a minority of activities at a group level ESMA may determine that the capital employed for carrying out the ancillary activity relative to the capital employed for carrying out the main business is to be considered. However, that factor shall in no case be sufficient to demonstrate that the activity is ancillary to the main business of the group. The activities referred to in this paragraph shall be considered at a group level. The elements referred to in the second and third subparagraphs shall exclude: (a) intra-group transactions as referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 that serve group-wide liquidity or risk management purposes; (b) transactions in derivatives which are objectively measurable as reducing risks directly relating to the commercial activity or treasury financing activity; (c) transactions in commodity derivatives and emission allowances entered into to fulfil obligations to provide liquidity on a trading venue, where such obligations are required by regulatory authorities in accordance with Union law or with national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, or by trading venues. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 3 July 2015. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Article 3 Optional exemptions
1. Member States may choose not to apply this Directive to any persons for which they are the home Member State, provided that the activities of those persons are authorised and regulated at national level and those persons: (a) are not allowed to hold client funds or client securities and which for that reason are not allowed at any time to place themselves in debit with their clients; (b) are not allowed to provide any investment service except the reception and transmission of orders in transferable securities and units in collective investment undertakings and/or the provision of investment advice in relation to such financial instruments; and (c) in the course of providing that service, are allowed to transmit orders only to: (i) investment firms authorised in accordance with this Directive; (ii) credit institutions authorised in accordance with Directive 2013/36/EU; (iii) branches of investment firms or of credit institutions authorised in a third country and which are subject to and comply with prudential rules considered by the competent authorities to be at least as stringent as those laid down in this Directive, in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or in Directive 2013/36/EU; (iv) collective investment undertakings authorised under the law of a Member State to market units to the public and to the managers of such undertakings; or (v) investment companies with fixed capital, as defined in Article 17(7) of Directive 2012/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 43 ) the securities of which are listed or dealt in on a regulated market in a Member State; or (c) in the course of providing that service, are allowed to transmit orders only to: (i) investment firms authorised in accordance with this Directive; (ii) credit institutions authorised in accordance with Directive 2013/36/EU; (iii) branches of investment firms or of credit institutions authorised in a third country and which are subject to and comply with prudential rules considered by the competent authorities to be at least as stringent as those laid down in this Directive, in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or in Directive 2013/36/EU; (iv) collective investment undertakings authorised under the law of a Member State to market units to the public and to the managers of such undertakings; or (v) investment companies with fixed capital, as defined in Article 17(7) of Directive 2012/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 43 ) the securities of which are listed or dealt in on a regulated market in a Member State; or (d) provide investment services exclusively in commodities, emission allowances and/or derivatives thereof for the sole purpose of hedging the commercial risks of their clients, where those clients are exclusively local electricity undertakings as defined in Article 2(35) of Directive 2009/72/EC and/or natural gas undertakings as defined in Article 2(1) of Directive 2009/73/EC, and provided that those clients jointly hold 100 % of the capital or of the voting rights of those persons, exercise joint control and are exempt under point (j) of Article 2(1) of this Directive if they carry out those investment services themselves; or (e) provide investment services exclusively in emission allowances and/or derivatives thereof for the sole purpose of hedging the commercial risks of their clients, where those clients are exclusively operators as defined in point (f) of Article 3 of Directive 2003/87/EC, and provided that those clients jointly hold 100 % of the capital or voting rights of those persons, exercise joint control and are exempt under point (j) of Article 2(1) of this Directive if they carry out those investment services themselves. 2. Member States’ regimes shall submit the persons referred to in paragraph 1 to requirements which are at least analogous to the following requirements under this Directive: (a) conditions and procedures for authorisation and on-going supervision as established in Article 5(1) and (3), Articles 7 to 10, 21, 22 and 23 and the corresponding delegated acts adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 89; (b) conduct of business obligations as established in Article 24(1), (3), (4), (5), (7) and (10), Article 25(2), (5) and (6), and, where the national regime allows those persons to appoint tied agents, Article 29, and the respective implementing measures; (c) organisational requirements as laid down in the first, sixth and seventh subparagraph of Article 16(3) and in Article 16(6) and (7) and the corresponding delegated acts adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 89. Member States shall require persons exempt from this Directive pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article to be covered by an investor-compensation scheme recognised in accordance with Directive 97/9/EC. Member States may allow investment firms not to be covered by such a scheme provided they hold professional indemnity insurance where, taking into account the size, risk profile and legal nature of the persons exempt in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, equivalent protection to their clients is ensured. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of this paragraph, Member States that already have in place such laws, regulations or administrative provisions before 2 July 2014 may until 3 July 2019 require that where the persons exempt from this Directive pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article provide the investment services of the reception and transmission of orders and/or of the provision of investment advice in units in collective investment undertakings and act as an intermediary with a management company as defined in Directive 2009/65/EC, those persons are jointly and severally liable with the management company for any damages incurred by the client in relation to those services. 3. Persons exempt from this Directive pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not benefit from the freedom to provide services or to perform activities or to establish branches as provided for in Articles 34 and 35 respectively. 4. Member States shall notify the Commission and ESMA of the exercise of the option under this Article and shall ensure that each authorisation granted in accordance with paragraph 1 mentions that it is granted in accordance with this Article. 5. Member States shall communicate to ESMA the provisions of national law analogous to the requirements of this Directive listed in paragraph 2.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 1.1. Reasons for the proposal Directive 2014/65/EU (‘MiFID’) together with Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (‘MiFIR’) was adopted in the wake of the financial crisis. MiFID and MiFIR, collectively referred to as MiFID II, covers securities markets, investment intermediaries and trading venues. The new framework reinforces and replaces the current MiFID framework. MiFID II extends the number of financial instruments covered by trading rules and ensures that trading takes place on regulated platforms. It introduces rules on high frequency trading. It improves the transparency and oversight of financial markets – including derivatives markets - and addresses the issue of price volatility in commodity derivatives. The new framework improves conditions for competition in the trading and clearing of financial instruments. Building on the rules already in place, the revised MiFID rules also strengthen the protection of investors by introducing robust organisational and conduct of business requirements. The MiFID II package consists of a Directive and a Regulation. Member States need to transpose the Directive by 3 July 2016. Both MiFID and MiFIR are scheduled to apply as of 3 January 2017. The purpose of the draft proposal is to extend the entry into application of both instruments that are comprised in the MIFID II package as a result of the technical implementation challenges met by the European Securities and Markets Authority ('ESMA'), national competent authorities ('NCAs') and stakeholders. These challenges are of such magnitude that essential data infrastructures will not be in place in time for 3 January 2017. During the legislative process, the very high level of complexity of the MiFID II package and the need for a significant number of implementing measures were recognised. To this end, a period of 30 months was foreseen between the adoption and the entry into application, instead of the usual 18-24 months. Despite this unusually long period, ESMA has made clear to the Commission that the technical implementing challenges are of such magnitude that essential data infrastructures will not be in place in time for 3 January 2017. If the date of entry into application remains unchanged, this would mean, in practice, that neither competent authorities, nor market participants, would be in a position to apply the new rules on 3 January 2017. This would lead to legal uncertainty and potential market disruption. In light of these exceptional circumstances and the particular technical implementation challenges faced by ESMA and the competent authorities in this specific case, the Commission deems it necessary to extend the entry into application of both instruments that are comprised in MIFID II. Such extension shall be strictly limited to what is necessary to allow the technical implementation work to be finalised. 1.2 The 'data' challenge ESMA have informed the Commission that neither they nor NCAs will be in a position to apply MiFID II as of 3 January 2017. This is a result of significant challenges in collecting the data that is necessary for the operation of the MiFID II rules. In order to ensure legal certainty and avoid potential market disruption, urgent action is therefore needed to adjust the date of entry into application for MiFID II. The reasons for the urgency are linked to the need to establish new and extensive electronic data collection networks between trading venues, national regulators and ESMA. The new framework requires trading venues and systematic internalisers to provide competent authorities with financial instrument reference data that describes in a uniform manner the characteristics of every financial instrument subject to the scope of MiFID II. Additional data are also used for other purposes, in particular for the calculation of various liquidity and transparency thresholds used for on-venue trading of all financial instruments covered by MiFID as well as for positions reporting of commodity derivatives. In order to collect data in an efficient and harmonised manner, a new data collection infrastructure must be developed. This obliges ESMA, in conjunction with competent national authorities, to establish a Financial Instruments Reference Data System ('FIRDS'). FIRDS will need to cover the entire range of financial instruments that are included in the increased scope of MiFID II. In accomplishing this task, FIRDS will necessitate linking of data feeds between ESMA, NCAs and around 300 trading venues across the European Union. The vast majority of the new IT-systems underpinning FIRDS will need to be built from the ground, based on new parameters. The Commission recognises that as a result of the size and complexity of the data needed to be collected and processed for MiFID II to become operational, in particular for transaction reporting, transparency calculations and reporting of positions in commodity derivatives, neither stakeholders, such as trading platforms, nor NCAs nor ESMA are in a position to ensure that the necessary data collection infrastructures would be in place and become operational by 3 January 2017. Therefore, on 2 October 2015 ESMA informed the Commission that a delay in the technical implementation of MiFID II was unavoidable. 1.3. The scope of the proposal The absence of data has ramifications across multiple areas of MIFID II. As regards market regulation, it is clear that without the foundation of reference data (instrument ID) and the additional data infrastructures for transparency calculations and position reporting in place, it will not be possible to apply the majority of the market rules. In particular:  Transaction reporting : without reference data, there will be challenges to determine what instruments are within the scope. In addition, the necessary infrastructure for market participants to report to their competent authorities will not be available.  Transparency framework : the trade transparency rules for all financial instruments (equity as well as non-equity) cannot be established and applied. In addition, the calculations and thresholds for the liquidity assessment, waivers, deferred publication and, in the equity area, the double volume cap (which limits dark trading) cannot be established.  Commodity derivatives : in the absence of position reporting for commodity derivatives it will be very difficult to enforce position limits on such commodity derivative contracts. With no position reporting, there is a limited ability to effectively detect breaches of positon limits.  Microstructural regulation: many of the requirements in relation to algorithmic trading/high frequency trading are by their nature dependent on data. In particular, the key provisions on tick-size regime and the obligations in relation to market making obligations and schemes are also tailored on there being a liquid market as determined under the transparency framework. The investor protection rules, the conduct of business rules and certain associated organisational requirements under MIFID II will not be directly affected by the lack of data. The important exception is the rules on best execution , where the scope of the disclosure is designed by reference to there being a liquid market and other transparency concepts. For other investor protection rules, aside from issues relating to the definition of financial instruments or the scope of the legislation, data inter-linkages generally do not exist, as these rules directly concern distribution and not trading. It is, therefore, recognised that an alternative approach would be to extend the date of entry into application only for the parts of the legislation directly relating to data collection. However, after a careful analysis of that option, it appears that an extension for the whole package, including investor protection rules, as opposed to a staggered approach is preferable:  It avoids the risk of causing confusion and unnecessary costs that stakeholders would incur through a staggered implementation. Building various infrastructures simultaneously – as opposed to doing so in stages - would make the process more cost effective. For example, it avoids situations, where investment firms, involved in execution of orders, would have to set up organisational requirements/conduct rules in stages, which would be complicated, expensive and costly;  It avoids having to delineate between the areas that can be immediately implemented and those that cannot be, and, therefore, avoids the risk of causing unintended consequences which may not have been foreseen or sufficiently considered; and  It avoids the need for transitional rules, which by themselves would create new issues and divert resources of ESMA, NCAs and stakeholders from building the permanent framework. On the basis of the above considerations, extending the entry into application for the entire MiFID II rulebook is therefore necessary and justified. 1.4. Length of the extension An extension of one year should provide sufficient and reasonable time for ESMA, NCAs and operators to put in place the infrastructure for data collection, reporting and the transparency threshold calculations. There are five steps in the implementation process: (1) business requirements (which in this case are the necessary regulatory technical standards/implementing technical standards), (2) specifications, (3) development (4) testing and (5) deployment. ESMA estimates that it should complete these steps in relation to the reference data, transparency calculations and position reporting systems by January 2018. This assumes that there is sufficient legal clarity on the final requirements under the relevant regulatory technical standards by mid-2016. On this basis, the draft proposal therefore extends the entry into application of the whole framework until 3 January 2018 by one year. The extension of entry into application of the measures of the Member States transposing Directive 2014/65/EU should not impact adoption of delegated acts and technical standards to be developed under Directive 2014/65/EU. The Commission should adopt these measures in accordance with the procedure envisaged in order to allow the industry to set up and adjust internal systems to ensure compliance with new requirements on the date of entry into application of Directive 2014/65/EU.
Revised version (Article 3 Optional exemptions):
1. Member States may choose not to apply this Directive to any persons for which they are the home Member State, provided that the activities of those persons are authorised and regulated at national level and those persons: (a) are not allowed to hold client funds or client securities and which for that reason are not allowed at any time to place themselves in debit with their clients; (b) are not allowed to provide any investment service except the reception and transmission of orders in transferable securities and units in collective investment undertakings and/or the provision of investment advice in relation to such financial instruments; and (c) in the course of providing that service, are allowed to transmit orders only to: (i) investment firms authorised in accordance with this Directive; (ii) credit institutions authorised in accordance with Directive 2013/36/EU; (iii) branches of investment firms or of credit institutions authorised in a third country and which are subject to and comply with prudential rules considered by the competent authorities to be at least as stringent as those laid down in this Directive, in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 or in Directive 2013/36/EU; (iv) collective investment undertakings authorised under the law of a Member State to market units to the public and to the managers of such undertakings; or (v) investment companies with fixed capital, as defined in Article 17(7) of Directive 2012/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 2 ) the securities of which are listed or dealt in on a regulated market in a Member State; or (d) provide investment services exclusively in commodities, emission allowances and/or derivatives thereof for the sole purpose of hedging the commercial risks of their clients, where those clients are exclusively local electricity undertakings as defined in Article 2(35) of Directive 2009/72/EC and/or natural gas undertakings as defined in Article 2(1) of Directive 2009/73/EC, and provided that those clients jointly hold 100 % of the capital or of the voting rights of those persons, exercise joint control and are exempt under point (j) of Article 2(1) of this Directive if they carry out those investment services themselves; or (e) provide investment services exclusively in emission allowances and/or derivatives thereof for the sole purpose of hedging the commercial risks of their clients, where those clients are exclusively operators as defined in point (f) of Article 3 of Directive 2003/87/EC, and provided that those clients jointly hold 100 % of the capital or voting rights of those persons, exercise joint control and are exempt under point (j) of Article 2(1) of this Directive if they carry out those investment services themselves. 2. Member States’ regimes shall submit the persons referred to in paragraph 1 to requirements which are at least analogous to the following requirements under this Directive: (a) conditions and procedures for authorisation and on-going supervision as established in Article 5(1) and (3), Articles 7 to 10, 21, 22 and 23 and the corresponding delegated acts adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 89; (b) conduct of business obligations as established in Article 24(1), (3), (4), (5), (7) and (10), Article 25(2), (5) and (6), and, where the national regime allows those persons to appoint tied agents, Article 29, and the respective implementing measures; (c) organisational requirements as laid down in the first, sixth and seventh subparagraph of Article 16(3) and in Article 16(6) and (7) and the corresponding delegated acts adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 89. Member States shall require persons exempt from this Directive pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article to be covered by an investor-compensation scheme recognised in accordance with Directive 97/9/EC. Member States may allow investment firms not to be covered by such a scheme provided they hold professional indemnity insurance where, taking into account the size, risk profile and legal nature of the persons exempt in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, equivalent protection to their clients is ensured. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of this paragraph, Member States that already have in place such laws, regulations or administrative provisions before 2 July 2014 may until 3 July 2019 require that where the persons exempt from this Directive pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article provide the investment services of the reception and transmission of orders and/or of the provision of investment advice in units in collective investment undertakings and act as an intermediary with a management company as defined in Directive 2009/65/EC, those persons are jointly and severally liable with the management company for any damages incurred by the client in relation to those services. 3. Persons exempt from this Directive pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not benefit from the freedom to provide services or to perform activities or to establish branches as provided for in Articles 34 and 35 respectively. 4. Member States shall notify the Commission and ESMA of the exercise of the option under this Article and shall ensure that each authorisation granted in accordance with paragraph 1 mentions that it is granted in accordance with this Article. 5. Member States shall communicate to ESMA the provisions of national law analogous to the requirements of this Directive listed in paragraph 2.
Article 4 Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘investment firm’ means any legal person whose regular occupation or business is the provision of one or more investment services to third parties and/or the performance of one or more investment activities on a professional basis. Member States may include in the definition of investment firms undertakings which are not legal persons, provided that: (a) their legal status ensures a level of protection for third parties’ interests equivalent to that afforded by legal persons; and (b) they are subject to equivalent prudential supervision appropriate to their legal form. However, where a natural person provides services involving the holding of third party funds or transferable securities, that person may be considered to be an investment firm for the purposes of this Directive and of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 only if, without prejudice to the other requirements imposed in this Directive, in Regulation (EU) No 600/2014, and in Directive 2013/36/EU, that person complies with the following conditions: (a) the ownership rights of third parties in instruments and funds must be safeguarded, especially in the event of the insolvency of the firm or of its proprietors, seizure, set-off or any other action by creditors of the firm or of its proprietors; (b) the firm must be subject to rules designed to monitor the firm’s solvency and that of its proprietors; (c) the firm’s annual accounts must be audited by one or more persons empowered, under national law, to audit accounts; (d) where the firm has only one proprietor, that person must make provision for the protection of investors in the event of the firm’s cessation of business following the proprietor’s death or incapacity or any other such event; (1) ‘investment firm’ means any legal person whose regular occupation or business is the provision of one or more investment services to third parties and/or the performance of one or more investment activities on a professional basis. Member States may include in the definition of investment firms undertakings which are not legal persons, provided that: (a) their legal status ensures a level of protection for third parties’ interests equivalent to that afforded by legal persons; and (b) they are subject to equivalent prudential supervision appropriate to their legal form. However, where a natural person provides services involving the holding of third party funds or transferable securities, that person may be considered to be an investment firm for the purposes of this Directive and of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 only if, without prejudice to the other requirements imposed in this Directive, in Regulation (EU) No 600/2014, and in Directive 2013/36/EU, that person complies with the following conditions: (a) the ownership rights of third parties in instruments and funds must be safeguarded, especially in the event of the insolvency of the firm or of its proprietors, seizure, set-off or any other action by creditors of the firm or of its proprietors; (b) the firm must be subject to rules designed to monitor the firm’s solvency and that of its proprietors; (c) the firm’s annual accounts must be audited by one or more persons empowered, under national law, to audit accounts; (d) where the firm has only one proprietor, that person must make provision for the protection of investors in the event of the firm’s cessation of business following the proprietor’s death or incapacity or any other such event; (2) ‘investment services and activities’ means any of the services and activities listed in Section A of Annex I relating to any of the instruments listed in Section C of Annex I. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 measures specifying: (a) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.6 of Annex I that have the characteristics of wholesale energy products that must be physically settled and C.6 energy derivative contracts; (b) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.7 of Annex I that have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments; (c) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.10 of Annex I that have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments, having regard to whether, inter alia, they are traded on a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF; (2) ‘investment services and activities’ means any of the services and activities listed in Section A of Annex I relating to any of the instruments listed in Section C of Annex I. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 measures specifying: (a) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.6 of Annex I that have the characteristics of wholesale energy products that must be physically settled and C.6 energy derivative contracts; (b) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.7 of Annex I that have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments; (c) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.10 of Annex I that have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments, having regard to whether, inter alia, they are traded on a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF; (3) ‘ancillary services’ means any of the services listed in Section B of Annex I; (4) ‘investment advice’ means the provision of personal recommendations to a client, either upon its request or at the initiative of the investment firm, in respect of one or more transactions relating to financial instruments; (5) ‘execution of orders on behalf of clients’ means acting to conclude agreements to buy or sell one or more financial instruments on behalf of clients and includes the conclusion of agreements to sell financial instruments issued by an investment firm or a credit institution at the moment of their issuance; (6) ‘dealing on own account’ means trading against proprietary capital resulting in the conclusion of transactions in one or more financial instruments; (7) ‘market maker’ means a person who holds himself out on the financial markets on a continuous basis as being willing to deal on own account by buying and selling financial instruments against that person’s proprietary capital at prices defined by that person; (8) ‘portfolio management’ means managing portfolios in accordance with mandates given by clients on a discretionary client-by-client basis where such portfolios include one or more financial instruments; (9) ‘client’ means any natural or legal person to whom an investment firm provides investment or ancillary services; (10) ‘professional client’ means a client meeting the criteria laid down in Annex II; (11) ‘retail client’ means a client who is not a professional client; (12) ‘SME growth market’ means a MTF that is registered as an SME growth market in accordance with Article 33; (13) ‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ for the purposes of this Directive, means companies that had an average market capitalisation of less than EUR 200 000 000 on the basis of end-year quotes for the previous three calendar years; (14) ‘limit order’ means an order to buy or sell a financial instrument at its specified price limit or better and for a specified size; (15) ‘financial instrument’ means those instruments specified in Section C of Annex I; (16) ‘C6 energy derivative contracts’ means options, futures, swaps, and any other derivative contracts mentioned in Section C.6 of Annex I relating to coal or oil that are traded on an OTF and must be physically settled; (17) ‘money-market instruments’ means those classes of instruments which are normally dealt in on the money market, such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit and commercial papers and excluding instruments of payment; (18) ‘market operator’ means a person or persons who manages and/or operates the business of a regulated market and may be the regulated market itself; (19) ‘multilateral system’ means any system or facility in which multiple third-party buying and selling trading interests in financial instruments are able to interact in the system; (20) ‘systematic internaliser’ means an investment firm which, on an organised, frequent systematic and substantial basis, deals on own account when executing client orders outside a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF without operating a multilateral system; The frequent and systematic basis shall be measured by the number of OTC trades in the financial instrument carried out by the investment firm on own account when executing client orders. The substantial basis shall be measured either by the size of the OTC trading carried out by the investment firm in relation to the total trading of the investment firm in a specific financial instrument or by the size of the OTC trading carried out by the investment firm in relation to the total trading in the Union in a specific financial instrument. The definition of a systematic internaliser shall apply only where the pre-set limits for a frequent and systematic basis and for a substantial basis are both crossed or where an investment firm chooses to opt-in under the systematic internaliser regime; (20) ‘systematic internaliser’ means an investment firm which, on an organised, frequent systematic and substantial basis, deals on own account when executing client orders outside a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF without operating a multilateral system; The frequent and systematic basis shall be measured by the number of OTC trades in the financial instrument carried out by the investment firm on own account when executing client orders. The substantial basis shall be measured either by the size of the OTC trading carried out by the investment firm in relation to the total trading of the investment firm in a specific financial instrument or by the size of the OTC trading carried out by the investment firm in relation to the total trading in the Union in a specific financial instrument. The definition of a systematic internaliser shall apply only where the pre-set limits for a frequent and systematic basis and for a substantial basis are both crossed or where an investment firm chooses to opt-in under the systematic internaliser regime; (21) ‘regulated market’ means a multilateral system operated and/or managed by a market operator, which brings together or facilitates the bringing together of multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments – in the system and in accordance with its non-discretionary rules – in a way that results in a contract, in respect of the financial instruments admitted to trading under its rules and/or systems, and which is authorised and functions regularly and in accordance with Title III of this Directive; (22) ‘multilateral trading facility’ or ‘MTF’ means a multilateral system, operated by an investment firm or a market operator, which brings together multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments – in the system and in accordance with non-discretionary rules – in a way that results in a contract in accordance with Title II of this Directive; (23) ‘organised trading facility’ or ‘OTF’ means a multilateral system which is not a regulated market or an MTF and in which multiple third-party buying and selling interests in bonds, structured finance products, emission allowances or derivatives are able to interact in the system in a way that results in a contract in accordance with Title II of this Directive; (24) ‘trading venue’ means a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF; (25) ‘liquid market’ means a market for a financial instrument or a class of financial instruments, where there are ready and willing buyers and sellers on a continuous basis, assessed in accordance with the following criteria, taking into consideration the specific market structures of the particular financial instrument or of the particular class of financial instruments: (a) the average frequency and size of transactions over a range of market conditions, having regard to the nature and life cycle of products within the class of financial instrument; (b) the number and type of market participants, including the ratio of market participants to traded instruments in a particular product; (c) the average size of spreads, where available; (25) ‘liquid market’ means a market for a financial instrument or a class of financial instruments, where there are ready and willing buyers and sellers on a continuous basis, assessed in accordance with the following criteria, taking into consideration the specific market structures of the particular financial instrument or of the particular class of financial instruments: (a) the average frequency and size of transactions over a range of market conditions, having regard to the nature and life cycle of products within the class of financial instrument; (b) the number and type of market participants, including the ratio of market participants to traded instruments in a particular product; (c) the average size of spreads, where available; (26) ‘competent authority’ means the authority, designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 67, unless otherwise specified in this Directive; (27) ‘credit institution’ means a credit institution as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013; (28) ‘UCITS management company’ means a management company as defined in point (b) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 44 ); (29) ‘tied agent’ means a natural or legal person who, under the full and unconditional responsibility of only one investment firm on whose behalf it acts, promotes investment and/or ancillary services to clients or prospective clients, receives and transmits instructions or orders from the client in respect of investment services or financial instruments, places financial instruments or provides advice to clients or prospective clients in respect of those financial instruments or services; (30) ‘branch’ means a place of business other than the head office which is a part of an investment firm, which has no legal personality and which provides investment services and/or activities and which may also perform ancillary services for which the investment firm has been authorised; all the places of business set up in the same Member State by an investment firm with headquarters in another Member State shall be regarded as a single branch; (31) ‘qualifying holding’ means a direct or indirect holding in an investment firm which represents 10 % or more of the capital or of the voting rights, as set out in Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 45 ), taking into account the conditions regarding aggregation thereof laid down in Article 12(4) and (5) of that Directive, or which makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the investment firm in which that holding subsists; (32) ‘parent undertaking’ means a parent undertaking within the meaning of Article 2(9) and 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 46 ); (33) ‘subsidiary’ means a subsidiary undertaking within the meaning of Articles 2(10) and 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU, including any subsidiary of a subsidiary undertaking of an ultimate parent undertaking; (34) ‘group’ means a group as defined in Article 2(11) of Directive 2013/34/EU; (35) ‘close links’ means a situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are linked by: (a) participation in the form of ownership, direct or by way of control, of 20 % or more of the voting rights or capital of an undertaking; (b) ‘control’ which means the relationship between a parent undertaking and a subsidiary, in all the cases referred to in Article 22(1) and (2) of Directive 2013/34/EU, or a similar relationship between any natural or legal person and an undertaking, any subsidiary undertaking of a subsidiary undertaking also being considered to be a subsidiary of the parent undertaking which is at the head of those undertakings; (c) a permanent link of both or all of them to the same person by a control relationship; (35) ‘close links’ means a situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are linked by: (a) participation in the form of ownership, direct or by way of control, of 20 % or more of the voting rights or capital of an undertaking; (b) ‘control’ which means the relationship between a parent undertaking and a subsidiary, in all the cases referred to in Article 22(1) and (2) of Directive 2013/34/EU, or a similar relationship between any natural or legal person and an undertaking, any subsidiary undertaking of a subsidiary undertaking also being considered to be a subsidiary of the parent undertaking which is at the head of those undertakings; (c) a permanent link of both or all of them to the same person by a control relationship; (36) ‘management body’ means the body or bodies of an investment firm, market operator or data reporting services provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making and include persons who effectively direct the business of the entity. Where this Directive refers to the management body and, pursuant to national law, the managerial and supervisory functions of the management body are assigned to different bodies or different members within one body, the Member State shall identify the bodies or members of the management body responsible in accordance with its national law, unless otherwise specified by this Directive; (36) ‘management body’ means the body or bodies of an investment firm, market operator or data reporting services provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making and include persons who effectively direct the business of the entity. Where this Directive refers to the management body and, pursuant to national law, the managerial and supervisory functions of the management body are assigned to different bodies or different members within one body, the Member State shall identify the bodies or members of the management body responsible in accordance with its national law, unless otherwise specified by this Directive; (37) ‘senior management’ means natural persons who exercise executive functions within an investment firm, a market operator or a data reporting services provider and who are responsible, and accountable to the management body, for the day-to-day management of the entity, including for the implementation of the policies concerning the distribution of services and products to clients by the firm and its personnel; (38) ‘matched principal trading’ means a transaction where the facilitator interposes itself between the buyer and the seller to the transaction in such a way that it is never exposed to market risk throughout the execution of the transaction, with both sides executed simultaneously, and where the transaction is concluded at a price where the facilitator makes no profit or loss, other than a previously disclosed commission, fee or charge for the transaction; (39) ‘algorithmic trading’ means trading in financial instruments where a computer algorithm automatically determines individual parameters of orders such as whether to initiate the order, the timing, price or quantity of the order or how to manage the order after its submission, with limited or no human intervention, and does not include any system that is only used for the purpose of routing orders to one or more trading venues or for the processing of orders involving no determination of any trading parameters or for the confirmation of orders or the post-trade processing of executed transactions; (40) ‘high-frequency algorithmic trading technique’ means an algorithmic trading technique characterised by: (a) infrastructure intended to minimise network and other types of latencies, including at least one of the following facilities for algorithmic order entry: co-location, proximity hosting or high-speed direct electronic access; (b) system-determination of order initiation, generation, routing or execution without human intervention for individual trades or orders; and (c) high message intraday rates which constitute orders, quotes or cancellations; (40) ‘high-frequency algorithmic trading technique’ means an algorithmic trading technique characterised by: (a) infrastructure intended to minimise network and other types of latencies, including at least one of the following facilities for algorithmic order entry: co-location, proximity hosting or high-speed direct electronic access; (b) system-determination of order initiation, generation, routing or execution without human intervention for individual trades or orders; and (c) high message intraday rates which constitute orders, quotes or cancellations; (41) ‘direct electronic access’ means an arrangement where a member or participant or client of a trading venue permits a person to use its trading code so the person can electronically transmit orders relating to a financial instrument directly to the trading venue and includes arrangements which involve the use by a person of the infrastructure of the member or participant or client, or any connecting system provided by the member or participant or client, to transmit the orders (direct market access) and arrangements where such an infrastructure is not used by a person (sponsored access); (42) ‘cross-selling practice’ means the offering of an investment service together with another service or product as part of a package or as a condition for the same agreement or package; (43) ‘structured deposit’ means a deposit as defined in point (c) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2014/49/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 47 ), which is fully repayable at maturity on terms under which interest or a premium will be paid or is at risk, according to a formula involving factors such as: (a) an index or combination of indices, excluding variable rate deposits whose return is directly linked to an interest rate index such as Euribor or Libor; (b) a financial instrument or combination of financial instruments; (c) a commodity or combination of commodities or other physical or non-physical non-fungible assets; or (d) a foreign exchange rate or combination of foreign exchange rates; (43) ‘structured deposit’ means a deposit as defined in point (c) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2014/49/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 47 ), which is fully repayable at maturity on terms under which interest or a premium will be paid or is at risk, according to a formula involving factors such as: (a) an index or combination of indices, excluding variable rate deposits whose return is directly linked to an interest rate index such as Euribor or Libor; (b) a financial instrument or combination of financial instruments; (c) a commodity or combination of commodities or other physical or non-physical non-fungible assets; or (d) a foreign exchange rate or combination of foreign exchange rates; (44) ‘transferable securities’ means those classes of securities which are negotiable on the capital market, with the exception of instruments of payment, such as: (a) shares in companies and other securities equivalent to shares in companies, partnerships or other entities, and depositary receipts in respect of shares; (b) bonds or other forms of securitised debt, including depositary receipts in respect of such securities; (c) any other securities giving the right to acquire or sell any such transferable securities or giving rise to a cash settlement determined by reference to transferable securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, commodities or other indices or measures; (44) ‘transferable securities’ means those classes of securities which are negotiable on the capital market, with the exception of instruments of payment, such as: (a) shares in companies and other securities equivalent to shares in companies, partnerships or other entities, and depositary receipts in respect of shares; (b) bonds or other forms of securitised debt, including depositary receipts in respect of such securities; (c) any other securities giving the right to acquire or sell any such transferable securities or giving rise to a cash settlement determined by reference to transferable securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, commodities or other indices or measures; (45) ‘depositary receipts’ means those securities which are negotiable on the capital market and which represent ownership of the securities of a non-domiciled issuer while being able to be admitted to trading on a regulated market and traded independently of the securities of the non-domiciled issuer; (46) ‘exchange-traded fund’ means a fund of which at least one unit or share class is traded throughout the day on at least one trading venue and with at least one market maker which takes action to ensure that the price of its units or shares on the trading venue does not vary significantly from its net asset value and, where applicable, from its indicative net asset value; (47) ‘certificates’ means certificates as defined in Article 2(1)(27) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (48) ‘structured finance products’ means structured finance products as defined in Article 2(1)(28) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (49) ‘derivatives’ means derivatives as defined in Article 2(1)(29) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (50) ‘commodity derivatives’ means commodity derivatives as defined in Article 2(1)(30) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (51) ‘CCP’ means a CCP as defined in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012; (52) ‘approved publication arrangement’ or ‘APA’ means a person authorised under this Directive to provide the service of publishing trade reports on behalf of investment firms pursuant to Articles 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (53) ‘consolidated tape provider’ or ‘CTP’ means a person authorised under this Directive to provide the service of collecting trade reports for financial instruments listed in Articles 6, 7, 10, 12 and 13, 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 from regulated markets, MTFs, OTFs and APAs and consolidating them into a continuous electronic live data stream providing price and volume data per financial instrument; (54) ‘approved reporting mechanism’ or ‘ARM’ means a person authorised under this Directive to provide the service of reporting details of transactions to competent authorities or to ESMA on behalf of investment firms; (55) ‘home Member State’ means: (a) in the case of investment firms: (i) if the investment firm is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the investment firm is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the investment firm has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (b) in the case of a regulated market, the Member State in which the regulated market is registered or, if under the law of that Member State it has no registered office, the Member State in which the head office of the regulated market is situated; (c) in the case of an APA, a CTP or an ARM: (i) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the APA, CTP or ARM has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (55) ‘home Member State’ means: (a) in the case of investment firms: (i) if the investment firm is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the investment firm is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the investment firm has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (a) in the case of investment firms: (i) if the investment firm is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the investment firm is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the investment firm has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (b) in the case of a regulated market, the Member State in which the regulated market is registered or, if under the law of that Member State it has no registered office, the Member State in which the head office of the regulated market is situated; (c) in the case of an APA, a CTP or an ARM: (i) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the APA, CTP or ARM has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (c) in the case of an APA, a CTP or an ARM: (i) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the APA, CTP or ARM has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (56) ‘host Member State’ means the Member State, other than the home Member State, in which an investment firm has a branch or provides investment services and/or activities, or the Member State in which a regulated market provides appropriate arrangements so as to facilitate access to trading on its system by remote members or participants established in that same Member State; (57) ‘third-country firm’ means a firm that would be a credit institution providing investment services or performing investment activities or an investment firm if its head office or registered office were located within the Union; (58) ‘wholesale energy product’ means wholesale energy products as defined in point (4) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011; (59) ‘agricultural commodity derivatives’ means derivative contracts relating to products listed in Article 1 of, and Annex I, Parts I to XX and XXIV/1, to, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 48 ); (60) ‘sovereign issuer’ means any of the following that issues debt instruments: (i) the Union; (ii) a Member State, including a government department, an agency, or a special purpose vehicle of the Member State; (iii) in the case of a federal Member State, a member of the federation; (iv) a special purpose vehicle for several Member States; (v) an international financial institution established by two or more Member States which has the purpose of mobilising funding and provide financial assistance to the benefit of its members that are experiencing or threatened by severe financing problems; or (vi) the European Investment Bank; (60) ‘sovereign issuer’ means any of the following that issues debt instruments: (i) the Union; (ii) a Member State, including a government department, an agency, or a special purpose vehicle of the Member State; (iii) in the case of a federal Member State, a member of the federation; (iv) a special purpose vehicle for several Member States; (v) an international financial institution established by two or more Member States which has the purpose of mobilising funding and provide financial assistance to the benefit of its members that are experiencing or threatened by severe financing problems; or (vi) the European Investment Bank; (61) ‘sovereign debt’ means a debt instrument issued by a sovereign issuer; (62) ‘durable medium’ means any instrument which: (a) enables a client to store information addressed personally to that client in a way accessible for future reference and for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information; and (b) allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored; (62) ‘durable medium’ means any instrument which: (a) enables a client to store information addressed personally to that client in a way accessible for future reference and for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information; and (b) allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored; (63) ‘data reporting services provider’ means an APA, a CTP or an ARM; (64) ‘central securities depository’ or ‘CSD’ means a central securities depository as defined in point (1) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to specify some technical elements of the definitions laid down in paragraph 1, to adjust them to market developments, technological developments and experience of behaviour that is prohibited under Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 and to ensure the uniform application of this Directive.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 1.1. Reasons for the proposal Directive 2014/65/EU (‘MiFID’) together with Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (‘MiFIR’) was adopted in the wake of the financial crisis. MiFID and MiFIR, collectively referred to as MiFID II, covers securities markets, investment intermediaries and trading venues. The new framework reinforces and replaces the current MiFID framework. MiFID II extends the number of financial instruments covered by trading rules and ensures that trading takes place on regulated platforms. It introduces rules on high frequency trading. It improves the transparency and oversight of financial markets – including derivatives markets - and addresses the issue of price volatility in commodity derivatives. The new framework improves conditions for competition in the trading and clearing of financial instruments. Building on the rules already in place, the revised MiFID rules also strengthen the protection of investors by introducing robust organisational and conduct of business requirements. The MiFID II package consists of a Directive and a Regulation. Member States need to transpose the Directive by 3 July 2016. Both MiFID and MiFIR are scheduled to apply as of 3 January 2017. The purpose of the draft proposal is to extend the entry into application of both instruments that are comprised in the MIFID II package as a result of the technical implementation challenges met by the European Securities and Markets Authority ('ESMA'), national competent authorities ('NCAs') and stakeholders. These challenges are of such magnitude that essential data infrastructures will not be in place in time for 3 January 2017. During the legislative process, the very high level of complexity of the MiFID II package and the need for a significant number of implementing measures were recognised. To this end, a period of 30 months was foreseen between the adoption and the entry into application, instead of the usual 18-24 months. Despite this unusually long period, ESMA has made clear to the Commission that the technical implementing challenges are of such magnitude that essential data infrastructures will not be in place in time for 3 January 2017. If the date of entry into application remains unchanged, this would mean, in practice, that neither competent authorities, nor market participants, would be in a position to apply the new rules on 3 January 2017. This would lead to legal uncertainty and potential market disruption. In light of these exceptional circumstances and the particular technical implementation challenges faced by ESMA and the competent authorities in this specific case, the Commission deems it necessary to extend the entry into application of both instruments that are comprised in MIFID II. Such extension shall be strictly limited to what is necessary to allow the technical implementation work to be finalised. 1.2 The 'data' challenge ESMA have informed the Commission that neither they nor NCAs will be in a position to apply MiFID II as of 3 January 2017. This is a result of significant challenges in collecting the data that is necessary for the operation of the MiFID II rules. In order to ensure legal certainty and avoid potential market disruption, urgent action is therefore needed to adjust the date of entry into application for MiFID II. The reasons for the urgency are linked to the need to establish new and extensive electronic data collection networks between trading venues, national regulators and ESMA. The new framework requires trading venues and systematic internalisers to provide competent authorities with financial instrument reference data that describes in a uniform manner the characteristics of every financial instrument subject to the scope of MiFID II. Additional data are also used for other purposes, in particular for the calculation of various liquidity and transparency thresholds used for on-venue trading of all financial instruments covered by MiFID as well as for positions reporting of commodity derivatives. In order to collect data in an efficient and harmonised manner, a new data collection infrastructure must be developed. This obliges ESMA, in conjunction with competent national authorities, to establish a Financial Instruments Reference Data System ('FIRDS'). FIRDS will need to cover the entire range of financial instruments that are included in the increased scope of MiFID II. In accomplishing this task, FIRDS will necessitate linking of data feeds between ESMA, NCAs and around 300 trading venues across the European Union. The vast majority of the new IT-systems underpinning FIRDS will need to be built from the ground, based on new parameters. The Commission recognises that as a result of the size and complexity of the data needed to be collected and processed for MiFID II to become operational, in particular for transaction reporting, transparency calculations and reporting of positions in commodity derivatives, neither stakeholders, such as trading platforms, nor NCAs nor ESMA are in a position to ensure that the necessary data collection infrastructures would be in place and become operational by 3 January 2017. Therefore, on 2 October 2015 ESMA informed the Commission that a delay in the technical implementation of MiFID II was unavoidable. 1.3. The scope of the proposal The absence of data has ramifications across multiple areas of MIFID II. As regards market regulation, it is clear that without the foundation of reference data (instrument ID) and the additional data infrastructures for transparency calculations and position reporting in place, it will not be possible to apply the majority of the market rules. In particular:  Transaction reporting : without reference data, there will be challenges to determine what instruments are within the scope. In addition, the necessary infrastructure for market participants to report to their competent authorities will not be available.  Transparency framework : the trade transparency rules for all financial instruments (equity as well as non-equity) cannot be established and applied. In addition, the calculations and thresholds for the liquidity assessment, waivers, deferred publication and, in the equity area, the double volume cap (which limits dark trading) cannot be established.  Commodity derivatives : in the absence of position reporting for commodity derivatives it will be very difficult to enforce position limits on such commodity derivative contracts. With no position reporting, there is a limited ability to effectively detect breaches of positon limits.  Microstructural regulation: many of the requirements in relation to algorithmic trading/high frequency trading are by their nature dependent on data. In particular, the key provisions on tick-size regime and the obligations in relation to market making obligations and schemes are also tailored on there being a liquid market as determined under the transparency framework. The investor protection rules, the conduct of business rules and certain associated organisational requirements under MIFID II will not be directly affected by the lack of data. The important exception is the rules on best execution , where the scope of the disclosure is designed by reference to there being a liquid market and other transparency concepts. For other investor protection rules, aside from issues relating to the definition of financial instruments or the scope of the legislation, data inter-linkages generally do not exist, as these rules directly concern distribution and not trading. It is, therefore, recognised that an alternative approach would be to extend the date of entry into application only for the parts of the legislation directly relating to data collection. However, after a careful analysis of that option, it appears that an extension for the whole package, including investor protection rules, as opposed to a staggered approach is preferable:  It avoids the risk of causing confusion and unnecessary costs that stakeholders would incur through a staggered implementation. Building various infrastructures simultaneously – as opposed to doing so in stages - would make the process more cost effective. For example, it avoids situations, where investment firms, involved in execution of orders, would have to set up organisational requirements/conduct rules in stages, which would be complicated, expensive and costly;  It avoids having to delineate between the areas that can be immediately implemented and those that cannot be, and, therefore, avoids the risk of causing unintended consequences which may not have been foreseen or sufficiently considered; and  It avoids the need for transitional rules, which by themselves would create new issues and divert resources of ESMA, NCAs and stakeholders from building the permanent framework. On the basis of the above considerations, extending the entry into application for the entire MiFID II rulebook is therefore necessary and justified. 1.4. Length of the extension An extension of one year should provide sufficient and reasonable time for ESMA, NCAs and operators to put in place the infrastructure for data collection, reporting and the transparency threshold calculations. There are five steps in the implementation process: (1) business requirements (which in this case are the necessary regulatory technical standards/implementing technical standards), (2) specifications, (3) development (4) testing and (5) deployment. ESMA estimates that it should complete these steps in relation to the reference data, transparency calculations and position reporting systems by January 2018. This assumes that there is sufficient legal clarity on the final requirements under the relevant regulatory technical standards by mid-2016. On this basis, the draft proposal therefore extends the entry into application of the whole framework until 3 January 2018 by one year. The extension of entry into application of the measures of the Member States transposing Directive 2014/65/EU should not impact adoption of delegated acts and technical standards to be developed under Directive 2014/65/EU. The Commission should adopt these measures in accordance with the procedure envisaged in order to allow the industry to set up and adjust internal systems to ensure compliance with new requirements on the date of entry into application of Directive 2014/65/EU.
Revised version (Article 4 Definitions):
1. For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘investment firm’ means any legal person whose regular occupation or business is the provision of one or more investment services to third parties and/or the performance of one or more investment activities on a professional basis. Member States may include in the definition of investment firms undertakings which are not legal persons, provided that: (a) their legal status ensures a level of protection for third parties’ interests equivalent to that afforded by legal persons; and (b) they are subject to equivalent prudential supervision appropriate to their legal form. However, where a natural person provides services involving the holding of third party funds or transferable securities, that person may be considered to be an investment firm for the purposes of this Directive and of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 only if, without prejudice to the other requirements imposed in this Directive, in Regulation (EU) No 600/2014, and in Directive 2013/36/EU, that person complies with the following conditions: (a) the ownership rights of third parties in instruments and funds must be safeguarded, especially in the event of the insolvency of the firm or of its proprietors, seizure, set-off or any other action by creditors of the firm or of its proprietors; (b) the firm must be subject to rules designed to monitor the firm’s solvency and that of its proprietors; (c) the firm’s annual accounts must be audited by one or more persons empowered, under national law, to audit accounts; (d) where the firm has only one proprietor, that person must make provision for the protection of investors in the event of the firm’s cessation of business following the proprietor’s death or incapacity or any other such event; (2) ‘investment services and activities’ means any of the services and activities listed in Section A of Annex I relating to any of the instruments listed in Section C of Annex I. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 measures specifying: (a) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.6 of Annex I that have the characteristics of wholesale energy products that must be physically settled and C.6 energy derivative contracts; (b) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.7 of Annex I that have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments; (c) the derivative contracts referred to in Section C.10 of Annex I that have the characteristics of other derivative financial instruments, having regard to whether, inter alia, they are traded on a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF; (3) ‘ancillary services’ means any of the services listed in Section B of Annex I; (4) ‘investment advice’ means the provision of personal recommendations to a client, either upon its request or at the initiative of the investment firm, in respect of one or more transactions relating to financial instruments; (5) ‘execution of orders on behalf of clients’ means acting to conclude agreements to buy or sell one or more financial instruments on behalf of clients and includes the conclusion of agreements to sell financial instruments issued by an investment firm or a credit institution at the moment of their issuance; (6) ‘dealing on own account’ means trading against proprietary capital resulting in the conclusion of transactions in one or more financial instruments; (7) ‘market maker’ means a person who holds himself out on the financial markets on a continuous basis as being willing to deal on own account by buying and selling financial instruments against that person’s proprietary capital at prices defined by that person; (8) ‘portfolio management’ means managing portfolios in accordance with mandates given by clients on a discretionary client-by-client basis where such portfolios include one or more financial instruments; (9) ‘client’ means any natural or legal person to whom an investment firm provides investment or ancillary services; (10) ‘professional client’ means a client meeting the criteria laid down in Annex II; (11) ‘retail client’ means a client who is not a professional client; (12) ‘SME growth market’ means a MTF that is registered as an SME growth market in accordance with Article 33; (13) ‘small and medium-sized enterprises’ for the purposes of this Directive, means companies that had an average market capitalisation of less than EUR 200 000 000 on the basis of end-year quotes for the previous three calendar years; (14) ‘limit order’ means an order to buy or sell a financial instrument at its specified price limit or better and for a specified size; (15) ‘financial instrument’ means those instruments specified in Section C of Annex I; (16) ‘C6 energy derivative contracts’ means options, futures, swaps, and any other derivative contracts mentioned in Section C.6 of Annex I relating to coal or oil that are traded on an OTF and must be physically settled; (17) ‘money-market instruments’ means those classes of instruments which are normally dealt in on the money market, such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit and commercial papers and excluding instruments of payment; (18) ‘market operator’ means a person or persons who manages and/or operates the business of a regulated market and may be the regulated market itself; (19) ‘multilateral system’ means any system or facility in which multiple third-party buying and selling trading interests in financial instruments are able to interact in the system; (20) ‘systematic internaliser’ means an investment firm which, on an organised, frequent systematic and substantial basis, deals on own account when executing client orders outside a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF without operating a multilateral system; The frequent and systematic basis shall be measured by the number of OTC trades in the financial instrument carried out by the investment firm on own account when executing client orders. The substantial basis shall be measured either by the size of the OTC trading carried out by the investment firm in relation to the total trading of the investment firm in a specific financial instrument or by the size of the OTC trading carried out by the investment firm in relation to the total trading in the Union in a specific financial instrument. The definition of a systematic internaliser shall apply only where the pre-set limits for a frequent and systematic basis and for a substantial basis are both crossed or where an investment firm chooses to opt-in under the systematic internaliser regime; (21) ‘regulated market’ means a multilateral system operated and/or managed by a market operator, which brings together or facilitates the bringing together of multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments – in the system and in accordance with its non-discretionary rules – in a way that results in a contract, in respect of the financial instruments admitted to trading under its rules and/or systems, and which is authorised and functions regularly and in accordance with Title III of this Directive; (22) ‘multilateral trading facility’ or ‘MTF’ means a multilateral system, operated by an investment firm or a market operator, which brings together multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments – in the system and in accordance with non-discretionary rules – in a way that results in a contract in accordance with Title II of this Directive; (23) ‘organised trading facility’ or ‘OTF’ means a multilateral system which is not a regulated market or an MTF and in which multiple third-party buying and selling interests in bonds, structured finance products, emission allowances or derivatives are able to interact in the system in a way that results in a contract in accordance with Title II of this Directive; (24) ‘trading venue’ means a regulated market, an MTF or an OTF; (25) ‘liquid market’ means a market for a financial instrument or a class of financial instruments, where there are ready and willing buyers and sellers on a continuous basis, assessed in accordance with the following criteria, taking into consideration the specific market structures of the particular financial instrument or of the particular class of financial instruments: (a) the average frequency and size of transactions over a range of market conditions, having regard to the nature and life cycle of products within the class of financial instrument; (b) the number and type of market participants, including the ratio of market participants to traded instruments in a particular product; (c) the average size of spreads, where available; (26) ‘competent authority’ means the authority, designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 67, unless otherwise specified in this Directive; (27) ‘credit institution’ means a credit institution as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013; (28) ‘UCITS management company’ means a management company as defined in point (b) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 3 ); (29) ‘tied agent’ means a natural or legal person who, under the full and unconditional responsibility of only one investment firm on whose behalf it acts, promotes investment and/or ancillary services to clients or prospective clients, receives and transmits instructions or orders from the client in respect of investment services or financial instruments, places financial instruments or provides advice to clients or prospective clients in respect of those financial instruments or services; (30) ‘branch’ means a place of business other than the head office which is a part of an investment firm, which has no legal personality and which provides investment services and/or activities and which may also perform ancillary services for which the investment firm has been authorised; all the places of business set up in the same Member State by an investment firm with headquarters in another Member State shall be regarded as a single branch; (31) ‘qualifying holding’ means a direct or indirect holding in an investment firm which represents 10 % or more of the capital or of the voting rights, as set out in Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 4 ), taking into account the conditions regarding aggregation thereof laid down in Article 12(4) and (5) of that Directive, or which makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the investment firm in which that holding subsists; (32) ‘parent undertaking’ means a parent undertaking within the meaning of Article 2(9) and 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 5 ); (33) ‘subsidiary’ means a subsidiary undertaking within the meaning of Articles 2(10) and 22 of Directive 2013/34/EU, including any subsidiary of a subsidiary undertaking of an ultimate parent undertaking; (34) ‘group’ means a group as defined in Article 2(11) of Directive 2013/34/EU; (35) ‘close links’ means a situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are linked by: (a) participation in the form of ownership, direct or by way of control, of 20 % or more of the voting rights or capital of an undertaking; (b) ‘control’ which means the relationship between a parent undertaking and a subsidiary, in all the cases referred to in Article 22(1) and (2) of Directive 2013/34/EU, or a similar relationship between any natural or legal person and an undertaking, any subsidiary undertaking of a subsidiary undertaking also being considered to be a subsidiary of the parent undertaking which is at the head of those undertakings; (c) a permanent link of both or all of them to the same person by a control relationship; (36) ‘management body’ means the body or bodies of an investment firm, market operator or data reporting services provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making and include persons who effectively direct the business of the entity. Where this Directive refers to the management body and, pursuant to national law, the managerial and supervisory functions of the management body are assigned to different bodies or different members within one body, the Member State shall identify the bodies or members of the management body responsible in accordance with its national law, unless otherwise specified by this Directive; (37) ‘senior management’ means natural persons who exercise executive functions within an investment firm, a market operator or a data reporting services provider and who are responsible, and accountable to the management body, for the day-to-day management of the entity, including for the implementation of the policies concerning the distribution of services and products to clients by the firm and its personnel; (38) ‘matched principal trading’ means a transaction where the facilitator interposes itself between the buyer and the seller to the transaction in such a way that it is never exposed to market risk throughout the execution of the transaction, with both sides executed simultaneously, and where the transaction is concluded at a price where the facilitator makes no profit or loss, other than a previously disclosed commission, fee or charge for the transaction; (39) ‘algorithmic trading’ means trading in financial instruments where a computer algorithm automatically determines individual parameters of orders such as whether to initiate the order, the timing, price or quantity of the order or how to manage the order after its submission, with limited or no human intervention, and does not include any system that is only used for the purpose of routing orders to one or more trading venues or for the processing of orders involving no determination of any trading parameters or for the confirmation of orders or the post-trade processing of executed transactions; (40) ‘high-frequency algorithmic trading technique’ means an algorithmic trading technique characterised by: (a) infrastructure intended to minimise network and other types of latencies, including at least one of the following facilities for algorithmic order entry: co-location, proximity hosting or high-speed direct electronic access; (b) system-determination of order initiation, generation, routing or execution without human intervention for individual trades or orders; and (c) high message intraday rates which constitute orders, quotes or cancellations; (41) ‘direct electronic access’ means an arrangement where a member or participant or client of a trading venue permits a person to use its trading code so the person can electronically transmit orders relating to a financial instrument directly to the trading venue and includes arrangements which involve the use by a person of the infrastructure of the member or participant or client, or any connecting system provided by the member or participant or client, to transmit the orders (direct market access) and arrangements where such an infrastructure is not used by a person (sponsored access); (42) ‘cross-selling practice’ means the offering of an investment service together with another service or product as part of a package or as a condition for the same agreement or package; (43) ‘structured deposit’ means a deposit as defined in point (3) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2014/49/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 6 ), which is fully repayable at maturity on terms under which interest or a premium will be paid or is at risk, according to a formula involving factors such as: (a) an index or combination of indices, excluding variable rate deposits whose return is directly linked to an interest rate index such as Euribor or Libor; (b) a financial instrument or combination of financial instruments; (c) a commodity or combination of commodities or other physical or non-physical non-fungible assets; or (d) a foreign exchange rate or combination of foreign exchange rates; (44) ‘transferable securities’ means those classes of securities which are negotiable on the capital market, with the exception of instruments of payment, such as: (a) shares in companies and other securities equivalent to shares in companies, partnerships or other entities, and depositary receipts in respect of shares; (b) bonds or other forms of securitised debt, including depositary receipts in respect of such securities; (c) any other securities giving the right to acquire or sell any such transferable securities or giving rise to a cash settlement determined by reference to transferable securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, commodities or other indices or measures; (45) ‘depositary receipts’ means those securities which are negotiable on the capital market and which represent ownership of the securities of a non-domiciled issuer while being able to be admitted to trading on a regulated market and traded independently of the securities of the non-domiciled issuer; (46) ‘exchange-traded fund’ means a fund of which at least one unit or share class is traded throughout the day on at least one trading venue and with at least one market maker which takes action to ensure that the price of its units or shares on the trading venue does not vary significantly from its net asset value and, where applicable, from its indicative net asset value; (47) ‘certificates’ means certificates as defined in Article 2(1)(27) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (48) ‘structured finance products’ means structured finance products as defined in Article 2(1)(28) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (49) ‘derivatives’ means derivatives as defined in Article 2(1)(29) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (50) ‘commodity derivatives’ means commodity derivatives as defined in Article 2(1)(30) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (51) ‘CCP’ means a CCP as defined in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012; (52) ‘approved publication arrangement’ or ‘APA’ means a person authorised under this Directive to provide the service of publishing trade reports on behalf of investment firms pursuant to Articles 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014; (53) ‘consolidated tape provider’ or ‘CTP’ means a person authorised under this Directive to provide the service of collecting trade reports for financial instruments listed in Articles 6, 7, 10, 12 and 13, 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 from regulated markets, MTFs, OTFs and APAs and consolidating them into a continuous electronic live data stream providing price and volume data per financial instrument; (54) ‘approved reporting mechanism’ or ‘ARM’ means a person authorised under this Directive to provide the service of reporting details of transactions to competent authorities or to ESMA on behalf of investment firms; (55) ‘home Member State’ means: (a) in the case of investment firms: (i) if the investment firm is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the investment firm is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the investment firm has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (b) in the case of a regulated market, the Member State in which the regulated market is registered or, if under the law of that Member State it has no registered office, the Member State in which the head office of the regulated market is situated; (c) in the case of an APA, a CTP or an ARM: (i) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a natural person, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (ii) if the APA, CTP or ARM is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated; (iii) if the APA, CTP or ARM has, under its national law, no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; (56) ‘host Member State’ means the Member State, other than the home Member State, in which an investment firm has a branch or provides investment services and/or activities, or the Member State in which a regulated market provides appropriate arrangements so as to facilitate access to trading on its system by remote members or participants established in that same Member State; (57) ‘third-country firm’ means a firm that would be a credit institution providing investment services or performing investment activities or an investment firm if its head office or registered office were located within the Union; (58) ‘wholesale energy product’ means wholesale energy products as defined in point (4) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011; (59) ‘agricultural commodity derivatives’ means derivative contracts relating to products listed in Article 1 of, and Annex I, Parts I to XX and XXIV/1, to, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ); (60) ‘sovereign issuer’ means any of the following that issues debt instruments: (i) the Union; (ii) a Member State, including a government department, an agency, or a special purpose vehicle of the Member State; (iii) in the case of a federal Member State, a member of the federation; (iv) a special purpose vehicle for several Member States; (v) an international financial institution established by two or more Member States which has the purpose of mobilising funding and provide financial assistance to the benefit of its members that are experiencing or threatened by severe financing problems; or (vi) the European Investment Bank; (61) ‘sovereign debt’ means a debt instrument issued by a sovereign issuer; (62) ‘durable medium’ means any instrument which: (a) enables a client to store information addressed personally to that client in a way accessible for future reference and for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information; and (b) allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored; (63) ‘data reporting services provider’ means an APA, a CTP or an ARM; (64) ‘central securities depository’ or ‘CSD’ means a central securities depository as defined in point (1) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 909/2014. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 to specify some technical elements of the definitions laid down in paragraph 1, to adjust them to market developments, technological developments and experience of behaviour that is prohibited under Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 and to ensure the uniform application of this Directive.
Article 5 Requirement for authorisation
1. Each Member State shall require that the provision of investment services and/or the performance of investment activities as a regular occupation or business on a professional basis be subject to prior authorisation in accordance with this Chapter. Such authorisation shall be granted by the home Member State competent authority designated in accordance with Article 67. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States shall authorise any market operator to operate an MTF or an OTF, subject to the prior verification of their compliance with this Chapter. 3. Member States shall register all investment firms. The register shall be publicly accessible and shall contain information on the services or activities for which the investment firm is authorised. It shall be updated on a regular basis. Every authorisation shall be notified to ESMA. ESMA shall establish a list of all investment firms in the Union. That list shall contain information on the services or activities for which each investment firm is authorised and it shall be updated on a regular basis. ESMA shall publish and keep up-to-date that list on its website. Where a competent authority has withdrawn an authorisation in accordance with points (b), (c) and (d) of Article 8, that withdrawal shall be published on the list for a period of five years. 4. Each Member State shall require that: (a) any investment firm which is a legal person have its head office in the same Member State as its registered office; (b) any investment firm which is not a legal person or any investment firm which is a legal person but under its national law has no registered office, have its head office in the Member State in which it actually carries out its business.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal Broadening access to market-based sources of financing for European companies at each stage of their development is at the heart of the Capital Markets Union (CMU). Since the launch of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan, the EU has made considerable progress to increase the sources of funding as firms gradually scale up, and make market-based finance more widely available across the EU. New rules are already in place to boost EU venture capital funds’ (EuVECA) investment in start-ups and medium-sized companies. Together with the European Investment Fund, the Commission has also launched a Pan-European Venture Capital Funds-of-Funds programme (VentureEU) to boost investment in innovative start-up and scale-up companies across Europe. New rules on prospectuses have already been adopted to support companies raising money on public markets for equity and debt. For small companies and mid-caps wishing to raise money across the EU, a new EU growth prospectus is being created. In addition, to increase access to finance for start-ups and entrepreneurs, the Commission has proposed a European label for investment-based and lending-based crowdfunding platforms ('European Crowdfunding Service Providers for Business'). However, more needs to be done to develop a more conducive regulatory framework supporting access to public funding for Small and Mid-sized Enterprises ( SMEs). This should be achieved in particular by promoting the SME Growth Market label created by the Markets in Financial Instrument Directive II (MiFID II) 1 and striking the right balance between investor protection and market integrity on the one hand, and avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens on the other. In the Mid-term Review of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan 2 of June 2017, the Commission strengthened the focus on SME access to public markets. In this context, the Commission committed to publishing 'an impact assessment that will explore whether targeted amendments to relevant EU legislation could deliver a more proportionate regulatory environment to support SME listing on public markets' . Newly listed Small and Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are a key motor of investment and job creation. Recently listed companies often outstrip privately-owned companies in terms of annual growth and workforce increase. Listed companies are less dependent on bank financing and benefit from a more diversified investment-base, easier access to additional equity capital and debt finance (through secondary offers), and a higher public profile and brand recognition. However, despite the benefits, EU public markets for SMEs are struggling to attract new issuers. The number of Initial Public Offerings on SME-dedicated markets steeply declined in the European Union in the wake of the crisis, and did not significantly pick up since. As a result, Europe is producing only half of the SME Initial Public Offerings that it generated before the financial crisis (478 Initial Public Offerings on average per year in 2006-2007 vs. 218 between 2009 and 2017 on EU SME MTFs). Between 2006 and 2007, an average of EUR 13.8 billion was raised annually on European SME-dedicated MTFs through Initial Public Offerings. This amount fell to EUR 2.55 billion on average from 2009 to 2017. There are many factors driving SMEs' decision to go public and investors' decision to invest in SME financial instruments. The impact assessment 3 shows that public markets for SMEs face two groups of regulatory challenges: (i) on the supply side, issuers face high compliance costs to list on public markets; (ii) on the demand side, insufficient liquidity can weigh on issuers (due to higher costs of capital), on investors (that can be reluctant to invest in SME in the first place due to low liquidity levels and related volatility risks) and on market intermediaries (whose business models rely on customers order flow in liquid markets). Scope of the initiative: SME Growth Markets This initiative is strictly confined to SME Growth Markets 4 and companies listed on those trading venues. SME Growth Markets are a new category of multilateral trading venues (MTFs) that were introduced by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II in January 2018. When assessing whether SME issuers admitted to trading on regulated markets should benefit from equivalent regulatory alleviations, the decision was made to limit the beneficiaries of the relief to issuers admitted to trading on SME Growth Markets. Requirements imposed on regulated market issuers should apply in a similar way regardless of the size of the company. Different requirements for SMEs compared to large caps are likely to confuse stakeholders (in particular investors). Current regulatory context Companies listed on an SME Growth Market are required to comply with some EU rules, especially the Market Abuse Regulation 5 (MAR) and the Prospectus Regulation 6 . Since its entry into application on 1 July 2016, the Market Abuse Regulation has been extended to MTFs, including SME Growth Markets. This regulation aims to increase market integrity and investor confidence. It prohibits from: (i) engaging or attempting to engage in insider dealing; (ii) recommending that another person engage in insider dealing or induce another person to engage in insider dealing; (iii) unlawfully disclosing inside information 7 ; or (iv) engaging in or attempting to engage in market manipulation. Issuers are also subject to several disclosure and record-keeping obligations under the regulation. In particular, concerned issuers are under a general obligation to disclose inside information to the public as soon as possible. By strengthening market integrity and by extending the market abuse regime to MTFs, the Market Abuse Regulation was crucial in restoring investor confidence in financial markets. However, this piece of legislation is a 'one-size-fits-all' regulation. Almost all its requirements apply in the same manner to all issuers irrespective of their size or the trading venues where their financial instruments are admitted to trading. The regulation contains only two limited adaptations to issuers listed on SME Growth Markets. The first allows trading venues operating an SME Growth Market to post inside information on the trading venue's website (instead of the issuer's website). The second allows issuers listed on SME Growth Markets to produce insider lists only upon request from a national competent authority (NCA). However, the effect of this alleviation is limited because companies are still required to gather and store all relevant information to be able to produce insider lists on request. A prospectus is a legally required document presenting information about a company when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market. Under the CMU Action Plan, the European Union has already made it easier and cheaper for smaller companies to access public markets, notably with the creation of the alleviated 'EU Growth Prospectus' in the revised Prospectus Regulation. An issuer may seek an admission to trading on a regulated market after having floated its shares on an SME Growth Market for a few years. It may do so to benefit from greater liquidity and a larger investor pool. However, if that issuer wants to transfer its shares from an SME Growth Market to a regulated market, it needs to produce a full prospectus as no alleviated prospectus schedule is available for companies in such a situation. The take-up of the SME Growth Market 'brand' is constrained by the limited number of alleviations currently envisaged in EU legislation for the issuers listed on this new type of trading venues. The overall objectives of this initiative is therefore to introduce technical adjustments to the EU rulebook in order to: (i) reduce the administrative burden and the regulatory compliance costs faced by SMEs when their financial instruments are admitted to trading on an SME Growth Market, while ensuring a high level of investor protection and market integrity; and (ii) increase the liquidity of equity instruments listed on SME Growth Markets. These targeted regulatory changes foreseen in this proposal will not fully revive access to public markets for SMEs on their own. Nevertheless, they address regulatory barriers flagged by various stakeholders as inhibiting capital-raising by SMEs on public markets. They do so whilst preserving the highest standards of investor protection and market integrity . Any changes should therefore be understood as a first step in the right direction, and not as a single remedy in itself. Besides, this proposal for a Regulation is not an overhaul of the Market Abuse Regulation (which has been into application for less than two years) or the Prospectus Regulation (which has been recently agreed by the co-legislators and which will enter into application as of July 2019). This proposal (together with the modifications envisaged in the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565) only brings technical amendments to make the EU legal framework applying to listed SMEs more proportionate. It will ensure that the 'SME Growth Market' label, created by MiFID II as of January 2018, is used by the various MTFs with a focus on SMEs across the EU. 
Revised version (Article 5 Requirement for authorisation):
1. Each Member State shall require that the provision of investment services and/or the performance of investment activities as a regular occupation or business on a professional basis be subject to prior authorisation in accordance with this Chapter. Such authorisation shall be granted by the home Member State competent authority designated in accordance with Article 67. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States shall authorise any market operator to operate an MTF or an OTF, subject to the prior verification of their compliance with this Chapter. 3. Member States shall register all investment firms. The register shall be publicly accessible and shall contain information on the services or activities for which the investment firm is authorised. It shall be updated on a regular basis. Every authorisation shall be notified to ESMA. ESMA shall establish a list of all investment firms in the Union. That list shall contain information on the services or activities for which each investment firm is authorised and it shall be updated on a regular basis. ESMA shall publish and keep up-to-date that list on its website. 4. Each Member State shall require that: (a) any investment firm which is a legal person have its head office in the same Member State as its registered office; (b) any investment firm which is not a legal person or any investment firm which is a legal person but under its national law has no registered office, have its head office in the Member State in which it actually carries out its business.
Article 6 Scope of authorisation
1. The home Member State shall ensure that the authorisation specifies the investment services or activities which the investment firm is authorised to provide. The authorisation may cover one or more of the ancillary services set out in Section B of Annex I. Authorisation shall in no case be granted solely for the provision of ancillary services. 2. An investment firm seeking authorisation to extend its business to additional investment services or activities or ancillary services not foreseen at the time of initial authorisation shall submit a request for extension of its authorisation. 3. The authorisation shall be valid for the entire Union and shall allow an investment firm to provide the services or perform the activities, for which it has been authorised, throughout the Union, either through the right of establishment, including through a branch, or through the freedom to provide services.
Article 7 Procedures for granting and refusing requests for authorisation
1. The competent authority shall not grant authorisation unless and until such time as it is fully satisfied that the applicant complies with all requirements under the provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive. 2. The investment firm shall provide all information, including a programme of operations setting out, inter alia, the types of business envisaged and the organisational structure, necessary to enable the competent authority to satisfy itself that the investment firm has established, at the time of initial authorisation, all the necessary arrangements to meet its obligations under this Chapter. 3. An applicant shall be informed, within six months of the submission of a complete application, whether or not authorisation has been granted. 4. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify: (a) the information to be provided to the competent authorities under paragraph 2 of this Article including the programme of operations; (b) the requirements applicable to the management of investment firms under Article 9(6) and the information for the notifications under Article 9(5); (c) the requirements applicable to shareholders and members with qualifying holdings, as well as obstacles which may prevent effective exercise of the supervisory functions of the competent authority, under Article 10(1) and (2). ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 3 July 2015. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010. 5. ESMA shall develop draft implementing technical standards to determine standard forms, templates and procedures for the notification or provision of information provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article and in Article 9(5). ESMA shall submit those draft implementing technical standards to the Commission by 3 January 2016. Power is conferred on the Commission to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL · Reasons for and objectives of the proposal This proposal is part of a package of measures to further enable and support the potential of digital finance in terms of innovation and competition while mitigating the risks. It is in line with the Commission priorities to make Europe fit for the digital age and to build a future-ready economy that works for the people. The digital finance package includes a new Strategy on digital finance for the EU financial sector 1 with the aim to ensure that the EU embraces the digital revolution and drives it with innovative European firms in the lead, making the benefits of digital finance available to European consumers and businesses. In addition to this proposal, the package also includes a proposal for a regulation on markets in crypto assets 2 , a proposal for a regulation on a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) 3 and a proposal for a regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector 4 . The reasons for, and objectives of, the two sets of legislative measures have been set out in the explanatory memoranda of the proposal for a regulation on a pilot regime for distributed ledger technology market infrastructures, proposal for a regulation on markets in crypto assets and proposal for a regulation on digital operational resilience, respectively, and apply here as well. The particular reasons for this proposal for a directive is that, in order to provide legal certainty as regards crypto assets and achieve the objectives of strengthening digital operational resilience, it is necessary to establish a temporary exemption for multilateral trading facilities and amend or clarify certain provisions in existing EU financial services directives. · Consistency with existing provisions in the policy area This proposal, similar to the proposals for regulation it accompanies, is part of a broader ongoing work at European and international level aimed at (i) strengthening the cybersecurity in financial services and address broader operational risks, and (ii) providing a clear, proportionate and enabling EU legal framework for crypto-asset service providers. · Consistency with other Union policies As stated by President von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines, 5 and set-out in the Communication ‘Shaping Europe’s digital future’, 6 it is crucial for Europe to reap all the benefits of the digital age and to strengthen its industry and innovation capacity, within safe and ethical boundaries. As regards crypto assets, this proposal is closely linked with wider Commission policies on blockchain technology, as crypto-assets, as the main application of blockchain technologies, are inextricably linked to the promotion of blockchain technology throughout Europe. As regards operational resilience, the European strategy for data 7 sets out four pillars - data protection, fundamental rights, safety and cyber-security - as essential pre-requisites for a society empowered by the use of data. A legislative framework strengthening the digital operational resilience of the Union’s financial entities is consistent with these policy objectives. The proposal would also support policies aimed at recovering from the coronavirus, as it would ensure that increased reliance on digital finance goes hand in hand with operational resilience. Both proposals also respond to calls from the CMU High-Level Forum to establish clear rules for the use of crypto asset (recommendation 7) and to put in place new rules on cyber resilience.
Revised version (Article 7 Procedures for granting and refusing requests for authorisation):
1. The competent authority shall not grant authorisation unless and until such time as it is fully satisfied that the applicant complies with all requirements under the provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive. 2. The investment firm shall provide all information, including a programme of operations setting out, inter alia, the types of business envisaged and the organisational structure, necessary to enable the competent authority to satisfy itself that the investment firm has established, at the time of initial authorisation, all the necessary arrangements to meet its obligations under this Chapter. 3. An applicant shall be informed, within six months of the submission of a complete application, whether or not authorisation has been granted. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 3 July 2015. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010. 5. ESMA shall develop draft implementing technical standards to determine standard forms, templates and procedures for the notification or provision of information provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article and in Article 9(5). ESMA shall submit those draft implementing technical standards to the Commission by 3 January 2016. Power is conferred on the Commission to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Article 8 Withdrawal of authorisations
The competent authority may withdraw the authorisation issued to an investment firm where such an investment firm: (a) does not make use of the authorisation within 12 months, expressly renounces the authorisation or has provided no investment services or performed no investment activity for the preceding six months, unless the Member State concerned has provided for authorisation to lapse in such cases; (b) has obtained the authorisation by making false statements or by any other irregular means; (c) no longer meets the conditions under which authorisation was granted, such as compliance with the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) No 575/2013; (d) has seriously and systematically infringed the provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive or Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 governing the operating conditions for investment firms; (e) falls within any of the cases where national law, in respect of matters outside the scope of this Directive, provides for withdrawal. Every withdrawal of authorisation shall be notified to ESMA.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 1.1. Reasons for and objectives of the proposal EU Member States have been severely affected by the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This calls for a quick reaction to support capital markets participants. In the Communication of the Commission of 13 March 2020, entitled ‘Coordinated economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak’, the Commission highlighted the importance of ensuring the liquidity of the EU financial sector and countering a threatening recession through actions at all levels. Furthermore, on 27 May 2020, in its Communication entitled ‘Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation’ , the Commission presented key instruments supporting the recovery plan for Europe, including measures that aim at kick-starting the economy and helping private investment. This Communication also stressed that liquidity and access to finance will be a continued challenge for companies. The objective of this targeted amendment is to provide for the best possible conditions for European economies to emerge from the current COVID-19 pandemic. The rules on investments services can play a key role in promoting the recapitalisation of European companies as they emerge from the crisis. The modified commodities regime will allow companies in the real economy to react to market volatility while also enabling nascent commodity contracts, which is also important to promote the international role of the Euro. The present review is driven by two key objectives: · Facilitating investments in the real economy and · Allowing for a rapid recapit alisation of European companies. To ensure that financial institutions and intermediaries can fulfil their essential function in financing the real economy, targeted adjustments of certain requirements of Directive 2014/65/EU (‘MiFID II’) are appropriate. Already in 2019, stakeholders had warned the Commission that several aspects of the MiFID II distribution rules were either unnecessary or perceived as overly burdensome. The current COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more important to remove formal burdens where they are not strictly necessary. A more finely calibrated view of investor requirements would also leave more resources for dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission therefore strives to recalibrate those areas to strike the right balance between a sufficient level of transparency towards the client, the highest standards of protection and acceptable compliance costs for firms. In that context, this amendment to MiFID II applying to investments in financial instrument has the aim of removing administrative burdens that result from documentation and disclosure rules that are not counterbalanced by corresponding increases in investor protection. It also recalibrates the position limit and corresponding hedging exemption regime to foster nascent euro denominated markets. 
Revised version (Article 8 Withdrawal of authorisations):
The competent authority may withdraw the authorisation issued to an investment firm where such an investment firm: (a) does not make use of the authorisation within 12 months, expressly renounces the authorisation or has provided no investment services or performed no investment activity for the preceding six months, unless the Member State concerned has provided for authorisation to lapse in such cases; (b) has obtained the authorisation by making false statements or by any other irregular means; (c) no longer meets the conditions under which authorisation was granted, such as compliance with the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2019/2033 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ); (d) has seriously and systematically infringed the provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive or Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 governing the operating conditions for investment firms; (e) falls within any of the cases where national law, in respect of matters outside the scope of this Directive, provides for withdrawal. Every withdrawal of authorisation shall be notified to ESMA.
Article 9 Management body
1. Competent authorities granting the authorisation in accordance with Article 5 shall ensure that investment firms and their management bodies comply with Article 88 and Article 91 of Directive 2013/36/EU. ESMA and EBA shall adopt, jointly, guidelines on the elements listed in Article 91(12) of Directive 2013/36/EU. 2. When granting the authorisation in accordance with Article 5, competent authorities may authorise members of the management body to hold one additional non-executive directorship than allowed in accordance with Article 91(3) of Directive 2013/36/EU. Competent authorities shall regularly inform ESMA of such authorisations. EBA and ESMA shall coordinate the collection of information provided for under the first subparagraph of this paragraph and under Article 91(6) of Directive 2013/36/EU in relation to investment firms. 3. Member States shall ensure that the management body of an investment firm defines, oversees and is accountable for the implementation of the governance arrangements that ensure effective and prudent management of the investment firm including the segregation of duties in the investment firm and the prevention of conflicts of interest, and in a manner that promotes the integrity of the market and the interest of clients. Without prejudice to the requirements established in Article 88(1) of Directive 2013/36/EU, those arrangements shall also ensure that the management body define, approve and oversee: (a) the organisation of the firm for the provision of investment services and activities and ancillary services, including the skills, knowledge and expertise required by personnel, the resources, the procedures and the arrangements for the provision of services and activities, taking into account the nature, scale and complexity of its business and all the requirements the firm has to comply with; (b) a policy as to services, activities, products and operations offered or provided, in accordance with the risk tolerance of the firm and the characteristics and needs of the clients of the firm to whom they will be offered or provided, including carrying out appropriate stress testing, where appropriate; (c) a remuneration policy of persons involved in the provision of services to clients aiming to encourage responsible business conduct, fair treatment of clients as well as avoiding conflict of interest in the relationships with clients. The management body shall monitor and periodically assess the adequacy and the implementation of the firm’s strategic objectives in the provision of investment services and activities and ancillary services, the effectiveness of the investment firm’s governance arrangements and the adequacy of the policies relating to the provision of services to clients and take appropriate steps to address any deficiencies. Members of the management body shall have adequate access to information and documents which are needed to oversee and monitor management decision-making. 4. The competent authority shall refuse authorisation if it is not satisfied that the members of the management body of the investment firm are of sufficiently good repute, possess sufficient knowledge, skills and experience and commit sufficient time to perform their functions in the investment firm, or if there are objective and demonstrable grounds for believing that the management body of the firm may pose a threat to its effective, sound and prudent management and to the adequate consideration of the interest of its clients and the integrity of the market. 5. Member States shall require the investment firm to notify the competent authority of all members of its management body and of any changes to its membership, along with all information needed to assess whether the firm complies with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. 6. Member States shall require that at least two persons meeting the requirements laid down in paragraph 1 effectively direct the business of the applicant investment firm. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, Member States may grant authorisation to investment firms that are natural persons or to investment firms that are legal persons managed by a single natural person in accordance with their constitutive rules and national laws. Member States shall nevertheless require that: (a) alternative arrangements be in place which ensure the sound and prudent management of such investment firms and the adequate consideration of the interest of clients and the integrity of the market; (b) the natural persons concerned are of sufficiently good repute, possess sufficient knowledge, skills and experience and commit sufficient time to perform their duties.
Article 10 Shareholders and members with qualifying holdings
1. The competent authorities shall not authorise the provision of investment services or performance of investment activities by an investment firm until they have been informed of the identities of the shareholders or members, whether direct or indirect, natural or legal persons, that have qualifying holdings and the amounts of those holdings. The competent authorities shall refuse authorisation if, taking into account the need to ensure the sound and prudent management of an investment firm, they are not satisfied as to the suitability of the shareholders or members that have qualifying holdings. Where close links exist between the investment firm and other natural or legal persons, the competent authority shall grant authorisation only if those links do not prevent the effective exercise of the supervisory functions of the competent authority. 2. The competent authority shall refuse authorisation if the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a third country governing one or more natural or legal persons with which the undertaking has close links, or difficulties involved in their enforcement, prevent the effective exercise of its supervisory functions. 3. Member States shall require that, where the influence exercised by the persons referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 is likely to be prejudicial to the sound and prudent management of an investment firm, the competent authority take appropriate measures to put an end to that situation. Such measures may include applications for judicial orders or the imposition of sanctions against directors and those responsible for management, or suspension of the exercise of the voting rights attaching to the shares held by the shareholders or members in question.
Article 11 Notification of proposed acquisitions
1. Member States shall require any natural or legal person or such persons acting in concert (the ‘proposed acquirer’), who have taken a decision either to acquire, directly or indirectly, a qualifying holding in an investment firm or to further increase, directly or indirectly, such a qualifying holding in an investment firm as a result of which the proportion of the voting rights or of the capital held would reach or exceed 20 %, 30 % or 50 % or so that the investment firm would become its subsidiary (the ‘proposed acquisition’), first to notify in writing the competent authorities of the investment firm in which they are seeking to acquire or increase a qualifying holding, indicating the size of the intended holding and relevant information, as referred to in Article 13(4). Member States shall require any natural or legal person who has taken a decision to dispose, directly or indirectly, of a qualifying holding in an investment firm first to notify in writing the competent authorities, indicating the size of the intended holding. Such a person shall likewise notify the competent authorities if he has taken a decision to reduce his qualifying holding so that the proportion of the voting rights or of the capital held would fall below 20 %, 30 % or 50 % or so that the investment firm would cease to be his subsidiary. Member States need not apply the 30 % threshold where, in accordance with point (a) of Article 9(3) of Directive 2004/109/EC, they apply a threshold of one-third. In determining whether the criteria for a qualifying holding referred to in Article 10 and in this Article are fulfilled, Member States shall not take into account voting rights or shares which investment firms or credit institutions may hold as a result of providing the underwriting of financial instruments and/or placing of financial instruments on a firm commitment basis included under point 6 of Section A of Annex I, provided that those rights are, on the one hand, not exercised or otherwise used to intervene in the management of the issuer and, on the other, disposed of within one year of acquisition. 2. The relevant competent authorities shall work in full consultation with each other when carrying out the assessment provided for in Article 13(1) (the ‘assessment’) if the proposed acquirer is one of the following: (a) a credit institution, assurance undertaking, insurance undertaking, reinsurance undertaking, investment firm or UCITS management company authorised in another Member State or in a sector other than that in which the acquisition is proposed; (b) the parent undertaking of a credit institution, assurance undertaking, insurance undertaking, reinsurance undertaking, investment firm or UCITS management company authorised in another Member State or in a sector other than that in which the acquisition is proposed; or (c) a natural or legal person controlling a credit institution, assurance undertaking, insurance undertaking, reinsurance undertaking, investment firm or UCITS management company authorised in another Member State or in a sector other than that in which the acquisition is proposed. The competent authorities shall, without undue delay, provide each other with any information which is essential or relevant for the assessment. In that regard, the competent authorities shall communicate to each other upon request all relevant information and shall communicate on their own initiative all essential information. A decision by the competent authority that has authorised the investment firm in which the acquisition is proposed shall indicate any views or reservations expressed by the competent authority responsible for the proposed acquirer. 3. Member States shall require that, if an investment firm becomes aware of any acquisitions or disposals of holdings in its capital that cause holdings to exceed or fall below any of the thresholds referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, that investment firm is to inform the competent authority without delay. At least once a year, investment firms shall also inform the competent authority of the names of shareholders and members possessing qualifying holdings and the sizes of such holdings as shown, for example, by the information received at annual general meetings of shareholders and members or as a result of compliance with the regulations applicable to companies whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market. 4. Member States shall require that competent authorities take measures similar to those referred to in Article 10(3) in respect of persons who fail to comply with the obligation to provide prior information in relation to the acquisition or increase of a qualifying holding. If a holding is acquired despite the opposition of the competent authorities, the Member States shall, regardless of any other sanctions to be adopted, provide either for exercise of the corresponding voting rights to be suspended, for the nullity of the votes cast or for the possibility of their annulment.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL · Reasons for and objectives of the proposal This proposal is part of a package of measures to further enable and support the potential of digital finance in terms of innovation and competition while mitigating the risks. It is in line with the Commission priorities to make Europe fit for the digital age and to build a future-ready economy that works for the people. The digital finance package includes a new Strategy on digital finance for the EU financial sector 1 with the aim to ensure that the EU embraces the digital revolution and drives it with innovative European firms in the lead, making the benefits of digital finance available to European consumers and businesses. In addition to this proposal, the package also includes a proposal for a regulation on markets in crypto assets 2 , a proposal for a regulation on a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) 3 and a proposal for a regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector 4 . The reasons for, and objectives of, the two sets of legislative measures have been set out in the explanatory memoranda of the proposal for a regulation on a pilot regime for distributed ledger technology market infrastructures, proposal for a regulation on markets in crypto assets and proposal for a regulation on digital operational resilience, respectively, and apply here as well. The particular reasons for this proposal for a directive is that, in order to provide legal certainty as regards crypto assets and achieve the objectives of strengthening digital operational resilience, it is necessary to establish a temporary exemption for multilateral trading facilities and amend or clarify certain provisions in existing EU financial services directives. · Consistency with existing provisions in the policy area This proposal, similar to the proposals for regulation it accompanies, is part of a broader ongoing work at European and international level aimed at (i) strengthening the cybersecurity in financial services and address broader operational risks, and (ii) providing a clear, proportionate and enabling EU legal framework for crypto-asset service providers. · Consistency with other Union policies As stated by President von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines, 5 and set-out in the Communication ‘Shaping Europe’s digital future’, 6 it is crucial for Europe to reap all the benefits of the digital age and to strengthen its industry and innovation capacity, within safe and ethical boundaries. As regards crypto assets, this proposal is closely linked with wider Commission policies on blockchain technology, as crypto-assets, as the main application of blockchain technologies, are inextricably linked to the promotion of blockchain technology throughout Europe. As regards operational resilience, the European strategy for data 7 sets out four pillars - data protection, fundamental rights, safety and cyber-security - as essential pre-requisites for a society empowered by the use of data. A legislative framework strengthening the digital operational resilience of the Union’s financial entities is consistent with these policy objectives. The proposal would also support policies aimed at recovering from the coronavirus, as it would ensure that increased reliance on digital finance goes hand in hand with operational resilience. Both proposals also respond to calls from the CMU High-Level Forum to establish clear rules for the use of crypto asset (recommendation 7) and to put in place new rules on cyber resilience.
Revised version (Article 11 Notification of proposed acquisitions):
1. Member States shall require any natural or legal person or such persons acting in concert (the ‘proposed acquirer’), who have taken a decision either to acquire, directly or indirectly, a qualifying holding in an investment firm or to further increase, directly or indirectly, such a qualifying holding in an investment firm as a result of which the proportion of the voting rights or of the capital held would reach or exceed 20 %, 30 % or 50 % or so that the investment firm would become its subsidiary (the ‘proposed acquisition’), first to notify in writing the competent authorities of the investment firm in which they are seeking to acquire or increase a qualifying holding, indicating the size of the intended holding and relevant information, as referred to in Article 13(4). Member States shall require any natural or legal person who has taken a decision to dispose, directly or indirectly, of a qualifying holding in an investment firm first to notify in writing the competent authorities, indicating the size of the intended holding. Such a person shall likewise notify the competent authorities if he has taken a decision to reduce his qualifying holding so that the proportion of the voting rights or of the capital held would fall below 20 %, 30 % or 50 % or so that the investment firm would cease to be his subsidiary. Member States need not apply the 30 % threshold where, in accordance with point (a) of Article 9(3) of Directive 2004/109/EC, they apply a threshold of one-third. In determining whether the criteria for a qualifying holding referred to in Article 10 and in this Article are fulfilled, Member States shall not take into account voting rights or shares which investment firms or credit institutions may hold as a result of providing the underwriting of financial instruments and/or placing of financial instruments on a firm commitment basis included under point 6 of Section A of Annex I, provided that those rights are, on the one hand, not exercised or otherwise used to intervene in the management of the issuer and, on the other, disposed of within one year of acquisition. The competent authorities shall, without undue delay, provide each other with any information which is essential or relevant for the assessment. In that regard, the competent authorities shall communicate to each other upon request all relevant information and shall communicate on their own initiative all essential information. A decision by the competent authority that has authorised the investment firm in which the acquisition is proposed shall indicate any views or reservations expressed by the competent authority responsible for the proposed acquirer. 3. Member States shall require that, if an investment firm becomes aware of any acquisitions or disposals of holdings in its capital that cause holdings to exceed or fall below any of the thresholds referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, that investment firm is to inform the competent authority without delay. At least once a year, investment firms shall also inform the competent authority of the names of shareholders and members possessing qualifying holdings and the sizes of such holdings as shown, for example, by the information received at annual general meetings of shareholders and members or as a result of compliance with the regulations applicable to companies whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market. 4. Member States shall require that competent authorities take measures similar to those referred to in Article 10(3) in respect of persons who fail to comply with the obligation to provide prior information in relation to the acquisition or increase of a qualifying holding. If a holding is acquired despite the opposition of the competent authorities, the Member States shall, regardless of any other sanctions to be adopted, provide either for exercise of the corresponding voting rights to be suspended, for the nullity of the votes cast or for the possibility of their annulment.
Article 12 Assessment period
1. The competent authorities shall, promptly and in any event within two working days following receipt of the notification required under the first subparagraph of Article 11(1), as well as following the possible subsequent receipt of the information referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, acknowledge receipt thereof in writing to the proposed acquirer. The competent authorities shall have a maximum of sixty working days as from the date of the written acknowledgement of receipt of the notification and all documents required by the Member State to be attached to the notification on the basis of the list referred to in Article 13(4) (the ‘assessment period’), to carry out the assessment. The competent authorities shall inform the proposed acquirer of the date of the expiry of the assessment period at the time of acknowledging receipt. 2. The competent authorities may, during the assessment period, if necessary, and no later than on the 50th working day of the assessment period, request any further information that is necessary to complete the assessment. Such request shall be made in writing and shall specify the additional information needed. For the period between the date of request for information by the competent authorities and the receipt of a response thereto by the proposed acquirer, the assessment period shall be interrupted. The interruption shall not exceed 20 working days. Any further requests by the competent authorities for completion or clarification of the information shall be at their discretion but may not result in an interruption of the assessment period. 3. The competent authorities may extend the interruption referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 up to 30 working days if the proposed acquirer is one of the following: (a) a natural or legal person situated or regulated outside the Union; (b) a natural or legal person not subject to supervision under this Directive or Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC or 2013/36/EU. 4. If the competent authorities, upon completion of the assessment, decide to oppose the proposed acquisition, they shall, within two working days, and not exceeding the assessment period, inform the proposed acquirer in writing and provide the reasons for that decision. Subject to national law, an appropriate statement of the reasons for the decision may be made accessible to the public at the request of the proposed acquirer. This shall not prevent a Member State from allowing the competent authority to make such disclosure in the absence of a request by the proposed acquirer. 5. If the competent authorities do not oppose the proposed acquisition within the assessment period in writing, it shall be deemed to be approved. 6. The competent authorities may fix a maximum period for concluding the proposed acquisition and extend it where appropriate. 7. Member States may not impose requirements for the notification to and approval by the competent authorities of direct or indirect acquisitions of voting rights or capital that are more stringent than those set out in this Directive. 8. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to establish an exhaustive list of information, referred to in Article 13(4) to be included by proposed acquirers in their notification, without prejudice to paragraph 2 of this Article. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 1 January 2014. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010. 9. ESMA shall develop draft implementing technical standards to determine standard forms, templates and procedures for the modalities of the consultation process between the relevant competent authorities as referred to in Article 11(2). ESMA shall submit those draft implementing technical standards to the Commission by 1 January 2014. Power is conferred on the Commission to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 1.1. Reasons for and objectives of the proposal EU Member States have been severely affected by the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This calls for a quick reaction to support capital markets participants. In the Communication of the Commission of 13 March 2020, entitled ‘Coordinated economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak’, the Commission highlighted the importance of ensuring the liquidity of the EU financial sector and countering a threatening recession through actions at all levels. Furthermore, on 27 May 2020, in its Communication entitled ‘Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation’ , the Commission presented key instruments supporting the recovery plan for Europe, including measures that aim at kick-starting the economy and helping private investment. This Communication also stressed that liquidity and access to finance will be a continued challenge for companies. The objective of this targeted amendment is to provide for the best possible conditions for European economies to emerge from the current COVID-19 pandemic. The rules on investments services can play a key role in promoting the recapitalisation of European companies as they emerge from the crisis. The modified commodities regime will allow companies in the real economy to react to market volatility while also enabling nascent commodity contracts, which is also important to promote the international role of the Euro. The present review is driven by two key objectives: · Facilitating investments in the real economy and · Allowing for a rapid recapit alisation of European companies. To ensure that financial institutions and intermediaries can fulfil their essential function in financing the real economy, targeted adjustments of certain requirements of Directive 2014/65/EU (‘MiFID II’) are appropriate. Already in 2019, stakeholders had warned the Commission that several aspects of the MiFID II distribution rules were either unnecessary or perceived as overly burdensome. The current COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more important to remove formal burdens where they are not strictly necessary. A more finely calibrated view of investor requirements would also leave more resources for dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commission therefore strives to recalibrate those areas to strike the right balance between a sufficient level of transparency towards the client, the highest standards of protection and acceptable compliance costs for firms. In that context, this amendment to MiFID II applying to investments in financial instrument has the aim of removing administrative burdens that result from documentation and disclosure rules that are not counterbalanced by corresponding increases in investor protection. It also recalibrates the position limit and corresponding hedging exemption regime to foster nascent euro denominated markets. 
Revised version (Article 12 Assessment period):
1. The competent authorities shall, promptly and in any event within two working days following receipt of the notification required under the first subparagraph of Article 11(1), as well as following the possible subsequent receipt of the information referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, acknowledge receipt thereof in writing to the proposed acquirer. The competent authorities shall have a maximum of sixty working days as from the date of the written acknowledgement of receipt of the notification and all documents required by the Member State to be attached to the notification on the basis of the list referred to in Article 13(4) (the ‘assessment period’), to carry out the assessment. The competent authorities shall inform the proposed acquirer of the date of the expiry of the assessment period at the time of acknowledging receipt. 2. The competent authorities may, during the assessment period, if necessary, and no later than on the 50th working day of the assessment period, request any further information that is necessary to complete the assessment. Such request shall be made in writing and shall specify the additional information needed. For the period between the date of request for information by the competent authorities and the receipt of a response thereto by the proposed acquirer, the assessment period shall be interrupted. The interruption shall not exceed 20 working days. Any further requests by the competent authorities for completion or clarification of the information shall be at their discretion but may not result in an interruption of the assessment period. 3. The competent authorities may extend the interruption referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 up to 30 working days if the proposed acquirer is one of the following: (a) a natural or legal person situated or regulated outside the Union; (b) a natural or legal person not subject to supervision under this Directive or Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC or 2013/36/EU. The competent authorities may extend the interruption referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 up to 30 working days if the proposed acquirer is one of the following: (a) a natural or legal person situated or regulated outside the Union; (b) a natural or legal person not subject to supervision under this Directive or Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC or 2013/36/EU. 4. If the competent authorities, upon completion of the assessment, decide to oppose the proposed acquisition, they shall, within two working days, and not exceeding the assessment period, inform the proposed acquirer in writing and provide the reasons for that decision. Subject to national law, an appropriate statement of the reasons for the decision may be made accessible to the public at the request of the proposed acquirer. This shall not prevent a Member State from allowing the competent authority to make such disclosure in the absence of a request by the proposed acquirer. 5. If the competent authorities do not oppose the proposed acquisition within the assessment period in writing, it shall be deemed to be approved. 6. The competent authorities may fix a maximum period for concluding the proposed acquisition and extend it where appropriate. 7. Member States may not impose requirements for the notification to and approval by the competent authorities of direct or indirect acquisitions of voting rights or capital that are more stringent than those set out in this Directive. 8. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to establish an exhaustive list of information, referred to in Article 13(4) to be included by proposed acquirers in their notification, without prejudice to paragraph 2 of this Article. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 1 January 2014. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010. 9. ESMA shall develop draft implementing technical standards to determine standard forms, templates and procedures for the modalities of the consultation process between the relevant competent authorities as referred to in Article 11(2). ESMA shall submit those draft implementing technical standards to the Commission by 1 January 2014. Power is conferred on the Commission to adopt the implementing technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
Article 13 Assessment
1. In assessing the notification provided for in Article 11(1) and the information referred to in Article 12(2), the competent authorities shall, in order to ensure the sound and prudent management of the investment firm in which an acquisition is proposed, and having regard to the likely influence of the proposed acquirer on the investment firm, appraise the suitability of the proposed acquirer and the financial soundness of the proposed acquisition against all of the following criteria: (a) the reputation of the proposed acquirer; (b) the reputation and experience of any person who will direct the business of the investment firm as a result of the proposed acquisition; (c) the financial soundness of the proposed acquirer, in particular in relation to the type of business pursued and envisaged in the investment firm in which the acquisition is proposed; (d) whether the investment firm will be able to comply and continue to comply with the prudential requirements based on this Directive and, where applicable, other Directives, in particular Directives 2002/87/EC and 2013/36/EU, in particular, whether the group of which it will become a part has a structure that makes it possible to exercise effective supervision, effectively exchange information among the competent authorities and determine the allocation of responsibilities among the competent authorities; (e) whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect that, in connection with the proposed acquisition, money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC is being or has been committed or attempted, or that the proposed acquisition could increase the risk thereof. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 which adjust the criteria set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph. 2. The competent authorities may oppose the proposed acquisition only if there are reasonable grounds for doing so on the basis of the criteria set out in paragraph 1 or if the information provided by the proposed acquirer is incomplete. 3. Member States shall neither impose any prior conditions in respect of the level of holding that must be acquired nor allow their competent authorities to examine the proposed acquisition in terms of the economic needs of the market. 4. Member States shall make publicly available a list specifying the information that is necessary to carry out the assessment and that must be provided to the competent authorities at the time of notification referred to in Article 11(1). The information required shall be proportionate and adapted to the nature of the proposed acquirer and the proposed acquisition. Member States shall not require information that is not relevant for a prudential assessment. 5. Notwithstanding Article 12(1), (2) and (3), where two or more proposals to acquire or increase qualifying holdings in the same investment firm have been notified to the competent authority, the latter shall treat the proposed acquirers in a non-discriminatory manner.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL · Reasons for and objectives of the proposal This proposal is part of a package of measures to further enable and support the potential of digital finance in terms of innovation and competition while mitigating the risks. It is in line with the Commission priorities to make Europe fit for the digital age and to build a future-ready economy that works for the people. The digital finance package includes a new Strategy on digital finance for the EU financial sector 1 with the aim to ensure that the EU embraces the digital revolution and drives it with innovative European firms in the lead, making the benefits of digital finance available to European consumers and businesses. In addition to this proposal, the package also includes a proposal for a regulation on markets in crypto assets 2 , a proposal for a regulation on a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) 3 and a proposal for a regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector 4 . The reasons for, and objectives of, the two sets of legislative measures have been set out in the explanatory memoranda of the proposal for a regulation on a pilot regime for distributed ledger technology market infrastructures, proposal for a regulation on markets in crypto assets and proposal for a regulation on digital operational resilience, respectively, and apply here as well. The particular reasons for this proposal for a directive is that, in order to provide legal certainty as regards crypto assets and achieve the objectives of strengthening digital operational resilience, it is necessary to establish a temporary exemption for multilateral trading facilities and amend or clarify certain provisions in existing EU financial services directives. · Consistency with existing provisions in the policy area This proposal, similar to the proposals for regulation it accompanies, is part of a broader ongoing work at European and international level aimed at (i) strengthening the cybersecurity in financial services and address broader operational risks, and (ii) providing a clear, proportionate and enabling EU legal framework for crypto-asset service providers. · Consistency with other Union policies As stated by President von der Leyen in her Political Guidelines, 5 and set-out in the Communication ‘Shaping Europe’s digital future’, 6 it is crucial for Europe to reap all the benefits of the digital age and to strengthen its industry and innovation capacity, within safe and ethical boundaries. As regards crypto assets, this proposal is closely linked with wider Commission policies on blockchain technology, as crypto-assets, as the main application of blockchain technologies, are inextricably linked to the promotion of blockchain technology throughout Europe. As regards operational resilience, the European strategy for data 7 sets out four pillars - data protection, fundamental rights, safety and cyber-security - as essential pre-requisites for a society empowered by the use of data. A legislative framework strengthening the digital operational resilience of the Union’s financial entities is consistent with these policy objectives. The proposal would also support policies aimed at recovering from the coronavirus, as it would ensure that increased reliance on digital finance goes hand in hand with operational resilience. Both proposals also respond to calls from the CMU High-Level Forum to establish clear rules for the use of crypto asset (recommendation 7) and to put in place new rules on cyber resilience.
Revised version (Article 13 Assessment):
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 89 which adjust the criteria set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph. 2. The competent authorities may oppose the proposed acquisition only if there are reasonable grounds for doing so on the basis of the criteria set out in paragraph 1 or if the information provided by the proposed acquirer is incomplete. 3. Member States shall neither impose any prior conditions in respect of the level of holding that must be acquired nor allow their competent authorities to examine the proposed acquisition in terms of the economic needs of the market. 4. Member States shall make publicly available a list specifying the information that is necessary to carry out the assessment and that must be provided to the competent authorities at the time of notification referred to in Article 11(1). The information required shall be proportionate and adapted to the nature of the proposed acquirer and the proposed acquisition. Member States shall not require information that is not relevant for a prudential assessment. 5. Notwithstanding Article 12(1), (2) and (3), where two or more proposals to acquire or increase qualifying holdings in the same investment firm have been notified to the competent authority, the latter shall treat the proposed acquirers in a non-discriminatory manner.
Article 14 Membership of an authorised investor compensation scheme
The competent authority shall verify that any entity seeking authorisation as an investment firm meets its obligations under Directive 97/9/EC at the time of authorisation. The obligation laid down in the first paragraph shall be met in relation to structured deposits where the structured deposit is issued by a credit institution which is a member of a deposit guarantee scheme recognised under Directive 2014/49/EU.