ESMA last night issued responses to the European Commission’s letters to it asking that three of the MiFID II RTS’s, including 20 and 21 on the ancillary activity test and position limits be revised. The letters can be found here and here.

The letters are highlighting an assumption by ESMA that addressing the specific points required to be changed by the Commission would mean that the remainder will be accepted by default. ESMA commit to working on the revised version as soon as possible but do not yet specify a date by which a new version will be issued.

The energy and commodities markets are currently struggling with the lack of finality over these rules, which could have a major impact on market participants’ businesses. The sooner the new versions of the RTS’s are out, the sooner the market will know what to deal with. Hopefully the assumptions in the letter will also speed up adoption once the new documents are issued.