The TRADE 60 | Page 35

[ T I M E L I N E 22 February 2018 – Fidelity Investments announces a reversal of its decision to pass research costs on to its investors through a commission sharing agreement and RPA model under MiFID II unbundling rules, and will instead absorb the cost of research into its own P&L. 7 March 2018 ESMA publishes the first round of DVCs data for dark pool trading after its delay in early January. A total of 744 instruments in January and 643 in February 2018 hit either the 4% or 8% threshold, a combined total representing 2.5% of all equities ESMA lists. | T H E F I R S T 5 0 0 D AY S 27 March 2018 ESMA announces that it will enforce the tick size regime on SIs, stating that market respondents were supportive of the decision overall as it would contribute to a level playing field between SIs and exchanges. 21 March 2018 Trading data under MiFID II from Thomson Reuters finds that dark pool and large-in- scale (LIS) activity had declined under the new regime, while periodic auctions gained traction among those seeking to avoid the DVCs. O F M I F I D I I ] 22 May 2018 – ESMA’s first liquidity assessment of the European bond market finds that only 220 bonds were considered to be sufficiently liquid to be subject to MiFID II’s real-time transparency requirements. 26 April 2018 Chairman of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, Robert Ophéle, calls out Cboe’s European periodic auction venue, expressing concern around surging volumes and how the industry considers them to be lit venues. 5 June 2018 - The UK’s economic secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, John Glen, confirms that there will be “no bonfire of financial regulation”, including MiFID II, once the United Kingdom completes its departure the European Union. Issue 60 // TheTradeNews.com // 35