9.II.1.5.6 Timing of post-trade publication

Under MiFID I equity post-trade data relating to transactions taking place on RMs and MTFs and within normal trading hours needed to be published as close to real-time as possible and in any case within three minutes of the relevant transaction.1 When a transaction occurred under the rules of an RM or MTF, but outside the normal trading hours (e.g. a negotiated transaction executed outside the systems operated by the trading venue to bring together buying and selling interest), the publication requirement was deemed to be complied with when the transaction was made public before the opening of the next trading day of the trading venue on which the transaction took place.2

During the MiFID I-review, CESR noted that the quality of post-trade data was negatively impacted. CESR noted that some investment firms routinely used the full three minutes to publish a transaction, rather than publishing a trade in real-time and using the full three minutes on an exceptional basis.3 CESR therefore recommended that the obligation to publish in real-time needed to be strengthened by adding that transactions needed to be published ‘as close to instantaneously as technically possible’. In addition, CESR recommended the deadline for the reporting of these transactions to be reduced from three minutes to one minute.4

ESMA took a similar position in drafting the Level 2 measures of MiFID II. ESMA proposed that in order to improve the quality of post-trade information and the overall market transparency, the maximum permissible time-limit for equity post-trade transparency publication should be shortened to one minute after the relevant transaction. ESMA noted that it appreciated that a maximum of one minute could be challenging under the technical arrangements (e.g. manual transactions or transactions made over the phone) adopted by certain market participants. However, ESMA indicated that the aim of MiFID II is to improve those arrangements and to set more rigorous transparency requirements for the benefit of the quality of the price formation process.5 ESMA proposed to maintain the MiFID I ‘normal trading hours’ definition under MiFID II. ESMA did not accept the view of certain market participants that opening and closing auctions (often conducted through periodic auctions) needed to be excluded from the normal trading hours. ESMA indicated that these auctions should also permit market participants to execute transactions with as much information about executed transactions as possible.6 ESMA’s advice is reflected in the final MiFID II text. The meaning of real-time means as soon as technically possible and has been reduced to a maximum of one minute. The meaning of ‘normal trading hours’ has not changed, except for the wording (‘daily trading hours’). Daily trading hours include opening and closing auctions.7