On December 19, 2014, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published final technical advice (ESMA/2014/1569) to the European Commission and a consultation paper (ESMA/2014/1570) on the MiFID II Directive (2014/65/EU) and MiFIR (the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Regulation 600/2014).

The consultation paper includes draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS) under the MiFID II Directive and MiFIR.  The consultation paper invites responses to the draft RTS and ITS by March 2, 2015, and responses will be used to finalise the draft RTS which will be sent to the Commission for endorsement by the middle of 2015.  Technical Advice.  Consultation Paper.