The European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA ESMA European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent Authority of the European Union that is responsible for the safety, security, and stability of the European Unions’ financial system and is charged with protecting the public. The European supervisory authority for the securities sector, ESMA was established on 1 January 2011. The European Securities and Markets Authority is an independent EU authority based in Paris. It aims to contribute to the effectiveness and stability of t European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent Authority of the European Union that is responsible for the safety, security, and stability of the European Unions’ financial system and is charged with protecting the public. The European supervisory authority for the securities sector, ESMA was established on 1 January 2011. The European Securities and Markets Authority is an independent EU authority based in Paris. It aims to contribute to the effectiveness and stability of t Read this Term) updated its question and answers (Q&A) section today regarding transparency and market structures issues under the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term (MiFIR). Of particular note was an update covering the requirement imposed on trading venues to make post-trade data available free of charge 15 minutes after publication.

ESMA defines a trading venue as being an organized trading facility (OTF), multilateral trading facility (MTF) or a regulated market - a multilateral system operated and/or managed by a market operator.

Making information easy to access

Today’s update noted that data published by trading venues must be machine readable. This means that data cannot be published as an image or in any other form that would not enable the public to use and copy it. Moreover, trading venues are prohibited from putting up any paywall, even if it is a third-party putting up the pay-wall, that would require users to pay to access published data.

Published information must also be easy to read and access. This means that firms must have clear instructions on their website that shows how to access the data. Firms cannot set up their published data so that it must be reached via a search engine. It must also be provided in a format that ‘can be understood by the average reader’ - what exactly this means remains unclear.

Data should also be kept on the firm’s website for a reasonable period. The regulator stated in the updated Q&A section today that firms should leave data up on their websites for a minimum of 24 hours.