See here for ETR Advisory’s notes on the MiFID II Open Hearing video, which was filmed by ESMA at their Paris meeting on 19th February 2015.

The notes attempt to document the talks and discussions that took place in the Commodity Derivatives part of the meeting. They are intended to supplement the video itself, and provide references to each part, in order to make navigating the videos easier.

It is striking from the meeting that on the one hand there would appear to be a great deal of push back on the re classification of commodity and energy traders as investment firms on the grounds of market impact , and on the other the fact that bringing many of these firms under financial regulation was the intent. As a result, no matter what the impact, it is a prudent working assumption that many will need to acquire MiFID licences over the coming period.