LONDON - The European Union’s markets watchdog has proposed stricter conditions on share trading off an exchange and on “dark pools”, saying the bloc’s securities rules have failed to reduce their influence.
The EU’s MiFID II securities rules introduced in 2018 sought to push more share trading onto transparent exchanges to better protect investors, away from dark pools where users have some degree of anonymity. The watchdog is also proposing increased transparency requirements for “systemic internalisers”, a reference to share trading inside banks between clients.In a step that could make it easier for EU investors to continue using UK trading platforms, ESMA said it was proposing to clarify where EU investors can trade non-EU shares.
Permission is now being assessed under the EU’s “equivalence” system that determines if UK securities rules are as robust as those in the bloc.