What’s missing from ESMA’s report?

Yesterday saw the publication of ESMA’s long-awaited report on the technical standards for MiFID II / MiFIR. As well as reviewing every single word of this impressive tome – 1,532 pages spread across three documents – we should consider the wider scope and take note of what the report does not cover too.

Comparing the drafts from December 2014 and February 2015 with yesterday’s texts, it suggests that ESMA still needs to publish details on some parts of investor protection, commodity position reporting and indirect clearing.

We’re also still waiting for the delegated acts from the European Commission (EC), covering areas such as the unbundling of research, record keeping requirements for non-HFT investment firms and the definitions for both Systematic Internaliser and HFT. It is suggested that the EC will follow up with a final text to be released sometime in November 2015.

As all the Level 2 texts become available, the focus will shift to further Level 3 clarifications. With the content and timing of any type of Level 3 document still very uncertain, this is probably a topic for 2016 and beyond. So whilst we’re all relieved to have got this far, there’s still a way to travel on the road to MiFID II.