Subject Matter
b_06.01.0020 - Licensed activity - Legal Protection Insurance
Question
Which licensed activity has to be selected for the licensed activity dropdown in the Register of Information if the entity is a legal protection insurance? According to the Annex of Solvency II it is the class 17, but class 17 is not available in the choices for the drop down field.
Subject Matter
Application of DORA to non-EU AIFMs of AIFs with EU investors
Question
The scope of DORA includes (Article 2(1)(k) “managers of alternative investment funds”. Such an entity is defined in Article 3(44) as “… a manager of alternative investment funds as defined in Article 4(1), point (b), of Directive 2011/61/EU”. It is noted that the definition does not extend to the need to be authorised or registered under Directive 2011/61/EU. As such this can be read as meaning that all managers (regardless of their jurisdiction) of alternative investment funds could potentially fall within scope of DORA.

ESMA_QA_2107 clarifies that a financial entity in the EU is subject DORA and that DORA does not directly apply to a non-EU entity providing services to an EU financial entity – although DORA may apply indirectly to the non-EU entity given that the “EU financial entity is expected to validate that the non-EU third-party provider does not prevent it to be compliant with DORA”.

Does the same principle apply to non-EU AIFMs that manage AIFs (regardless of where those AIFs are established) which have investors based in the EU i.e. DORA will not directly apply to such non-EU AIFMs, but may apply indirectly if such investors are financial entities in the EU who are directly subject to DORA?
Subject Matter
Questions related to package orders/transactions
Question
[ESMA 70-872942901-35 MiFIR transparency Q&A, Q&A 4.4]

a) How is the requirement for a package order that ‘Each component of the transactions bears meaningful economic or financial risk related to all the other components’ to be interpreted?
b) Can package orders also include equity instruments? If yes, how is pre- and post-trade transparency applied?
c) When does an investment firm apply the systematic internaliser obligations on a package order level?
d) How should systematic internalisers determine whether package orders which are not liquid as a whole are subject to the transparency obligations in non-equity instruments under Article 18(1) or 18(2) of MiFIR?
e) Which party to a package transaction is required to make the transactions public via an APA?
f) Can package orders (Article 2(1)(49)(b) of MiFIR) also include instruments that are not admitted to trading or traded on a venue?
g) Where an investment firm buys a newly issued bond in the primary market as the result of an allocation and funds its investment by selling another bond to the lead manager of the issuance, simultaneously with and contingent upon the investment in the new issue, would this qualify as a package order for the purpose of pre-trade transparency?
ESMA_QA_2304
11/10/2024
Subject Matter
Q&A on lot sizes and position limits
Question
In the gas derivatives market, lot sizes defined in the contract specification by trading venues do not represent a standard quantity of the underlying across all market areas, for the same maturity. How should the open interest in lots be calculated for gas derivatives, for the application of position limits in Article 57(1) of MiFID II?