Application of transparency rules in accordance with MiFID II/MiFIR for Swedish trading venues and investment firms

Given the entry into force of a new European regulatory framework (the Directive and the Regulation on markets in financial instruments (MiFID II/MiFIR)), the previous transparency regulations within the EU will be supplemented with a joint regulation containing expanded requirements that will cover basically all financial instruments traded on a trading venue. The regulatory framework allows the possibility to both waive the obligation to make public pre-trade order information and authorise deferred publication of post-trade information.

FI has informed investment firms (securities institutions) and Swedish trading venues about its decisions in a number of application matters based on the following application of the transparency regulations in MiFIR:

• Exemption from pre-trade order transparency requirements in accordance with Articles 4, 9 and 18(2) of Mifir.
• Authorisation to defer publication of post-trade information in accordance with Articles 7, 11 and 21(4) of MiFIR.

In conjunction with an authorisation of deferred post-trade information for non-equity instruments (i.e. bonds, derivatives, structured finance products and emissions allowances) in accordance with Article 11 and Article 21(4), FI has allowed the possibility for "extended time period of deferral" in accordance with Article 11(3) of MiFIR according to the following:

1. For all non-equity instruments, transactions must be published in a daily aggregated form for a minimum number of five transactions executed on the same day, to be made public the following working day before 9:00 AM; (T+1) in accordance with Article 11(3)(a) of MiFIR and Article 11(1)(a)(ii) of RTS 2. The information in point a) must contain aggregate information per ISIN: the average weighted price, total trade volume and total number of transactions (Article 11(4) of RTS 2).
2. For all non-equity instruments (including those for which aggregate information is published in accordance with point a)), individual transactions must be made public no later than 7:00 PM on the second business day after the day the transaction took place (T+2). The information in point b) must contain information about, for example, time, price and volume, in accordance with Tables 1–3 in Annex 2 to RTS 2.
3. For sovereign bonds, covered bonds and derivatives that use these bonds as underlying assets, FI allows omission of the publication of the volume of an individual transaction during an extended time period of four weeks in accordance with Article 11(3)(b) of MiFIR. When applying this rule, the individual transaction must be published again including information about volume before 9:00 AM on the working day following the expiration of the extended period of deferral (T+4 weeks, the next working day at 09.00 AM).

Guidelines for aggregate publication in accordance with point a) is available in ESMA's Q&A on Transparency, Section 4, Question 6, dated 15 November 2017.

Swedish investment firms , including systematic internalisers, that have not applied themselves for the possibility to defer information may utilise, for transactions taking place outside of a trading venue, the corresponding possibility for deferral that is granted for Swedish trading venues in accordance with Articles 20(2) and 21(4) of MiFIR. The trading venues' applications are set out in published regulations and market models on the trading venues' websites. Please note for individual instrument classes that deferred publication may differ from the above, i.e. the trading venues' applications can be stricter.

FI will continue to evaluate the application of transparency decisions and may reassess its position if the conditions on the market change.