Amy Ansbro

Managing Associate

London


Read full biography at www.orrick.com

Amy Ansbro, an associate in the London office, is a member of the Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution team. Amy has experience advising on a wide range of commercial litigation and dispute resolution matters, including High Court litigation and professional discipline proceedings.

Amy joined Orrick as a trainee in August 2015 and also has experience working in the Finance, Restructuring, Corporate, Employment and Real Estate groups.

Posts by: Amy Roper

European Commission Adopts Delegated Regulations on RTS Relating to Execution Venues under MiFID II

On June 8, 2016, the European Commission adopted the following two Delegated Regulations supplementing the MiFID II Directive (2014/65/EU):

  1. A Delegated Regulation (C(2016) 3333 final) in relation to regulatory technical standards (RTS) surrounding the data to be published by execution venues on the quality of execution of transactions, together with an Annex. For financial instruments subject to the trading obligation, each trading venue and systematic internalizer must, under MiFID II, make available to the public, at no cost and on at least an annual basis, data relating to the quality of execution of transactions on that venue.
  2. A Delegated Regulation (C(2016) 3337 final) in relation to RTS for the annual publication by investment firms of information on the identity of execution venues and on the quality of execution, together with an Annex. Investment firms that execute client orders must, under MiFID II, summarize and make available annually, the top five execution venues in terms of trading volumes where they executed client orders in the preceding year, and information on the quality of execution obtained.

It is now for the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to consider the Delegated Regulations. Subject to any objection, they shall enter into force 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ).

European Parliament Votes to Postpone MiFID II Implementation until January 2018

On June 7, 2016, the European Parliament published a press release announcing that it has voted to postpone the implementation of MiFID II (the MiFID II Directive (2014/65/EU)) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Regulation 600/2014) (MiFIR)) until January 3, 2018. This grants member states a year’s extension on the original July 3, 2016 deadline to transpose the legislation. The extension was triggered by the European Commission and the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) delay in producing the necessary technical standards.

MiFID II intends to close the gaps left by MiFID I. Following the financial crisis, it was introduced to create a single market for investment services and activities, with the aim of improving the competitiveness of EU financial markets. The Parliament, through MiFID II, seemingly aims to introduce: (i) a dedicated regime for the treatment of package transactions with regards to pre-trade transparency obligations; (ii) clarification for the own-account exemption for corporate end-users and securities financing transactions, which are excluded from MiFID transparency obligations; and (iii) a technical cross-referencing issue between the Prospective Directive (2003/71/EC) and MiFID II.

On June 8, the Parliament proceeded to publish the provisional edition of: (i) the text of the legislative proposal for a Directive amending the MiFID II Directive as regards certain dates; and (ii) the text of the legislative proposal amending the MiFIR, the Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation 596/2014) (MAR) and the Regulation on improving securities settlement and regulating central securities depositories (CSDs) (Regulation 909/2014) (CSDR) as regards certain dates.

It now remains for the proposals to be formally adopted by the Council, following which they will be published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ) and enter into force in line with the timing stipulated in the legislation.

European Commission Adopts Delegated Regulation on RTS on Detailed Records of Financial Contracts under BRRD

On June 7, 2016, the European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation supplementing the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (2014/59/EU) (BRRD). The Delegated Regulation deals with the regulatory technical standards (RTS) on a minimum set of the information on financial contracts that should be contained in the detailed records, together with the circumstances in which the requirement should be imposed (C(2016) 3356 final).

Following submission of draft RTS by the EBA in December 2015, the Commission is entitled, under Article 71 of the BRRD, to adopt delegated regulations which highlight the methodology for assessing the value of assets and liabilities of institutions or entities. The draft RTS state that, should the relevant conditions for resolution be satisfied, an institution must maintain detailed records of financial contracts where it is foreseen that resolution actions would be applied to the institution concerned. The Annex accompanying the Delegated Regulation highlights the minimum list of information on financial contracts.

It is now for the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to consider the Delegated Regulation. Subject to any objection, it will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ).