GERMANY: BaFin to Accept Draft Applications for Authorisation from Data Reporting Services Providers

Wednesday March 8 2017

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has published a notice stating that with the entry into force of the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR), BaFIN will assume new duties in relation to the authorisation and supervision of data reporting services providers from 3 January 2018.

Data reporting services providers will play a role in the fulfilment of publication and reporting requirements which investment firms and operators of trading venues are obliged to fulfil pursuant to MiFIR.  There will be three kinds of data reporting services providers:

• Approved publication arrangement (APA): Investment firms are obliged pursuant to MiFIR to publish certain information on APAs within the context of over-the-counter post-trade transparency.
• Consolidated tape provider (CTP): CTPs may consolidate into a continuous electronic data stream, the data published by investment firms or operators of trading venues pursuant to MiFIR and make this available to the public.
• Approved reporting mechanism (ARM): As an alternative to their own reporting system, investment firms can also make use of an ARM in fulfilment of their reporting requirements regulated for in MiFIR.

Although BaFin cannot accept/process formal applications for authorisation nor assess whether the authorisation conditions have been met until after the entry into force of the legal provisions governing competence, it will accept and preliminarily assess draft applications.

Click on the link above for further details.