ESMA publishes Opinion on Market Outages

ESMA has published a final report and Opinion on market outages, emphasizing the importance of trading venues having an appropriate outage plan for communication with their members, participants, and the public.
ESMA’s publication of this Opinion follows a review report on algorithmic trading published in September 2021 (eventid=12724), where the authority committed to provide guidance on how trading venues should communicate during outages. A consultation was launched in September 2022 on ESMA’s proposed guidance on market outages to gather feedback from stakeholders (eventid=17395).
The final report includes ESMA’s feedback on the responses received during the consultation, and presents the final ESMA opinion to NCAs on market outages. It provides guidance on the requirements that NCAs should impose on trading venues to handle market outage events.
The report emphasizes the importance of resilience and business continuity in trading venues. It outlines steps for orderly trading reopening and highlights the need for clear communication during outages. Considerations for non-equity instruments are covered, emphasizing coordination for smooth market functioning.