ESMA finds that MCM had no measurable impact on financial markets under current market conditions

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its Effects Assessment of the introduction of the market correction mechanism (MCM) on gas derivative markets.
ESMA explored together with ACER (eventid=19975) whether there has been any shift in trading due to the MCM and found no changes in EU gas derivatives trading that could be directly attributed to it.
The report also describes the impact of the MCM on CCPs‘ capacity to conduct their risk management activities, but no noticeable changes in CCP risk management or margin requirements were identified.
However, the absence of significant impact should not be interpreted as the MCM having no impact, and the activation of the MCM in the future could have different consequences.
Recent announcements by ICE Endex and EEX to offer trading of TTF contracts outside the scope of the MCM Regulation suggest that market participants are preparing for a scenario where the MCM could be activated in the future.
The assessment covers the period since the adoption of the MCM in December 2022, and market indicators were used to analyze trading activity, liquidity, and execution.
The results confirm the findings of the preliminary data report, according to which no measurable impact of the MCM has been identified so far.