ESMA issues Opinion on the trading venue perimeter

The European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA, has published the Final Report on the Opinion on the trading venue perimeter, providing guidance on when certain systems and facilities qualify as multilateral and therefore should seek authorisation as a trading venue.
Following a consultation (eventid=14271), the opinion elaborates on the MiFID II definition of multilateral systems and provides guidance on how to understand its constituent parts. It offers information on how to categorize a system and how to recognize instances in which trading interests from third parties interact within a system.
Different opinions regarding whether a system needs to be authorized as a trading platform have emerged within the EU due to MiFID II and the ongoing innovation in the financial markets.
The Final Report will help ensuring supervisory procedures are consistent, it aims to harmonize views on new technology providers and request for quote (RFQ) systems that, in some cases, may run a multilateral system de facto without the required authorization.