[ESMA70-155-13070 ] Opinion on position limits on RAPESEED contract

ESMA has published its Opinion on the position limits proposed by AMF (eventid=20981) on rapeseed contracts traded on Euronext Paris. AMF has proposed position limits for the spot month and other months for the rapeseed contracts based on the methodology established by the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) 21a.
The calculation of the deliverable supply for the rapeseed contract is based on average data over the last five years, with the yearly available deliverable supply set at 25,000 lots divided by four expiries that are traded each year.
ESMA has found that the proposed position limits are consistent with the objectives of preventing market abuse and supporting orderly pricing and settlement conditions established in Article 57(1) of MiFID II. The position limits have been set following the methodology established by RTS 21a. AMF has given due consideration to the orderly delivery and settlement of the rapeseed contract by reducing the authorised position limit during the last twelve trading days before the expiry of the spot month.
The position limits for the other months‘ contracts have been set using the daily average open interest over one year, from January 2022 until December 2022, adding the open interest from each identified related contract that can be aggregated. The limits have been temporarily adjusted upwards during the 21 trading days preceding the expiry of the spot month to allow for the rolling of positions from the spot month contract to the other months‘ contract. This adjustment is consistent with the objective characteristics of the market, as clarified in Recital 18 of RTS 21a.