18.III.3.3.1 Remote access, efficient order management, and reference prices

Under the ISD so-called remote membership permitted market participants to access trading screens of RMs without having to establish a physical presence in that Member State.1 Without such direct membership foreign market participants would have been obliged to trade through local investment firms, implying less access to real-time market information.2 Technological innovation resulted in better management of orders, including through iceberg and stop orders.3 Technology also enabled efficient execution of orders at a reference price, often being the midpoint of the bid-ask spread as displayed on the referenced market.4 The EU acknowledged the importance and benefits of order management (e.g. iceberg and stop orders) and reference prices by introducing two MiFID I waivers, being the order management and reference price waiver.5