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    2008-09-30

MAR 5.8 Provisions common to pre- and post-trade transparency requirements for shares

MAR 5.8.1EU

1For the purposes of Articles 27, 28, 29, 30, 44 and 45 of [the MiFID] Directive 2004/39/EC and of this [MiFID] Regulation, pre- and post-trade information shall be considered to be made public or available to the public if it is made available generally through one of the following to investors located in the Community:

(a)

the facilities of a regulated market or an MTF;

(b)

the facilities of a third party;

(c)

proprietary arrangements.

[Note: Article 30 of the MiFID Regulation]

MAR 5.8.2EU

Any arrangement to make information public, adopted for the purposes of Articles 30 and 31 [of the MiFID Regulation], shall satisfy the following conditions:

(a)

it must include all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that the information to be published is reliable, monitored continuously for errors, and corrected as soon as errors are detected;

(b)

it must facilitate the consolidation of the data with similar data from other sources;

(c)

it must make the information available to the public on a non-discriminatory commercial basis at a reasonable cost.

[Note: Article 32 of the MiFID Regulation]

MAR 5.8.3G

2The FSA considers that for the purposes of ensuring that published information is reliable, monitored continuously for errors, and corrected as soon as errors are detected (see MAR 5.8.2 EU(a)), a verification process should be established which does not need to be external from the organisation of the publishing entity, but which should be an independent cross-check of the accuracy of the information generated by the trading process. This process should have the capability to at least identify price and volume anomalies, be systematic and conducted in real-time. The chosen process should be reasonable and proportionate in relation to the business.

MAR 5.8.4G
  1. (1)

    2In respect of arrangements facilitating the consolidation of data as required in MAR 5.8.2 EU(b), the FSA considers information as being made public in accordance with MAR 5.8.2 EU(b), if it:

    1. (a)

      is accessible by automated electronic means in a machine-readable way;

    2. (b)

      utilises technology that facilitates consolidation of the data and permits commercially viable usage; and

    3. (c)

      is accompanied by instructions outlining how users can access the information.

  2. (2)

    The FSA considers that an arrangement fulfils the 'machine-readable' criteria where the data

    1. (a)

      is in a physical form that is designed to be read by a computer;

    2. (b)

      is in a location on a computer storage device where that location is known in advance by the party wishing to access the data; and

    3. (c)

      is in a format that is known in advance by the party wishing to access the data.

  3. (3)

    The FSA considers that publication on a non-machine-readable website would not meet the MiFID requirements.

  4. (4)

    The FSA considers that information that is made public in accordance with MAR 5.8.2 EU should conform to a consistent and structured format based on industry standards. Firms operating an MTF can choose the structure that they use.