On October 10, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published final guidelines (Guidelines) on transaction reporting, order record keeping and clock synchronization under the amended and restated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). The Guidelines follow a consultation paper published by ESMA in December 2015.

The Guidelines cover investment firms, trading venues, approved reporting mechanisms and EU regulators, and aim to ensure consistency in compliance with MiFIR provisions and associated regulatory technical standards. The Guidelines are divided into three broad sections covering transaction reporting, order record keeping and clock synchronization. In terms of transaction reporting, the Guidelines set out detailed points on trading capacity (including dealing on own account, trading in a matched principal trading capacity, trading in any other capacity and restrictions on trading capacities), chains and transmission, execution on a trading venue, identifiers for parties, the meaning of “transaction”, mechanics for reporting and submitting transaction reports.

The Guidelines will apply from January 3, 2018 (which coincides with the application dates for MiFID II and MiFIR).