The European and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has published correspondence between the European Parliament’s negotiating team for the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID“) II package of measures and Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis about concerns relating to the potential establishment of networks of systematic internalizers (“SIs“) and of other liquidity providers that might circumvent certain MiFID II obligations, in particular concerning the trading of shares.

In a letter dated February 24, 2017, the negotiating team refers to the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (“ESMA“) letter from February 1 to Olivier Guersent, Director General, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. The negotiating team and ESMA share the same concern that certain investment firms may be setting up interconnected SIs to cross third-party buying and selling interests via matched principal trading or other types of back-to-back transactions. The negotiating team has asked the European Commission to examine whether these practices comply with the letter and spirit of the MiFID II framework.

Mr. Dombrovskis responded in a letter dated March 16, 2017, setting out the conclusions of an initial investigation into the issue. He explained that a group of exchange operators are concerned about attempts to establish broker crossing networks in which both SIs and high frequency trading (HFT) firms interact in a manner that market operators describe as multilateral. Market operators are concerned that such networks may not be considered a multilateral trading system by all competent authorities, and so some variants of broker crossing networks may not be required to be authorized as multilateral trading facilities (“MTFs“). On the other hand, investment firms argue that the establishment of electronic links between SIs and other liquidity providers would not amount to the creation of an MTF. Market operators have requested that guidance be issued to the effect that such networks involving the rapid exchange of order information between participating SIs is an MTF and should be authorized as such.

The European Commission proposes to engage in a dialogue with ESMA and competent national regulators to determine the jurisdictions that the alleged broker crossing networks could potentially be established in. The European Commission will then engage with the relevant authorities on how to address the establishment of such networks within the MiFID II rules.