ESMA Urges the EC to Weigh-In on Proposed MiFID II Regulatory Technical Standard

The European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") notified the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union ("DG FISMA") of the European Commission that unless it receives written notice to the contrary from DG FISMA by March 29, 2016, it will begin "swiftly" to produce an opinion on the DG FISMA's proposed amendments to ESMA's draft Regulatory Technical Standards ("RTS"). The proposed amendments that will be subject to ESMA's opinion concern the following:

• the definition of "ancillary activity,"

• position limits for commodity derivatives, and

• transparency for non-equity instruments.

Additionally, ESMA asked the European Commission to endorse all other draft RTS that were submitted by ESMA on September 28, 2015 "without undue delay" in order to ensure the "timely implementation of MiFID II as a whole."