17.IV.1 General

MiFID II obliges RMs, MTFs, APAs and CTPs (not: SIs) to make MiFID II market data available free of charge 15 minutes after publication.1 The MiFID II-rule can be seen as the final element to reduce data costs compared to MiFID I. The main aim of the rule is to reduce the costs of post-trade data, since these costs were overall (but not unanimously) considered to be too high under MiFID I.2 Compared to the other MiFID II-rules in this area, that is – (i) the obligation to disaggregate equity pre- and post-trade data; and (ii) the concept of a reasonable commercial basis, MiFID II provides no level 2-measures for making data free of charge 15 minutes after publication. The MiFID II-rules are therefore quite high level in nature. In order to provide uniformity and legal certainty, ESMA has provided several Q&As to clarify the concept. The MiFID II-text, as well as ESMA’s guidance, are examined below.