The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) welcomes the opportunity to submit its answer to the ESMA’s consultation on its MiFIR review report on the obligations to report transactions and reference data (ESMA74-362-73)dated 24 September 2020.
Whilst we note the intention of the suggested changes is positive in that it can help organise the existingtransparency regime practices under MiFIR, we would have preferred that these were consulted and reviewed within the broader context of the MIFID review so that firms can assess the potential cost and impact in a holistic manner, rather than solely in the context of transaction and reference data reporting.
That said, our members can already anticipate that several proposals for reporting of new data shall require significant upfront and ongoing implementation costs for firms, particularly due to system update challenges. We would have appreciated if ESMA presented a cost benefit analysis that justifies adding to the reporting burden on firms.
In summary, our feedback inter alia covers concerns and proposals with respect to:
- cross-legislative issues between EMIR and MiFIR;
- the clarification of the ToTV and TVTIC concepts;
- the extension of reporting to UCITS management companies and AIFMs;
- the forced obligation for investment firms to report the transmission of orders; and
- the replacement of the term “index” with “benchmark” in Article 26(2)(c) MiFIR.