There has been quite a bit of MiFID II activity of late, with the end of the Irish EU Presidency approaching and the desire to move forward before it ends on June 30th.

The focus of last week’s activity was whether Equities should be included within the new OTF (Organised Trading Facility) rules, and there is a great deal of discussion about this.

Of more interest to those in energy and commodities is the fact that the timetable for the introduction of OTFs is now moving forward. The OTF is likely to capture some of the trading that thus far is not captured by an MTF(Multilateral Trading Facility) which means that it may not come under EMIR. This could turn out to be important for Energy Traders and may well affect the amount of working capital they need to support trading.

There is also some debate about the issue of “open access” to clearing. If this were to be enacted, it would require trade execution venues to permit CCPs access to clear their trades, which makes the clearing market more competitive. This would of course be advantageous for those in the energy and commodities markets.

In the meantime, participants need to keep an eye on the introduction of position reporting and mandatory limits, as well as the potential ending of the commodities exemption, that could arise during the implementation of MiFiD II.