Europe Consults on Market Abuse
The ERGEG (European Regulators´ Group for Electricity and Gas) and CESR (Committee of European Securities Regulators) have launched a joint consultation on trading regulations in energy and gas markets. The core element of their concern is expressed in their press release as follows:
The existing EU securities legislation (i.e. the Market Abuse Directive – MAD) may not properly address potential market integrity issues in the electricity and gas markets. MAD applies almost exclusively to financial instruments admitted to trading on a regulated market. Physical products (e.g. spot market products) are not covered, and derivatives markets products are covered only if they are admitted to trading on a regulated market.
A consultation document has been issued asking market participants to comment on the effectiveness of the current regulations and, in particular, so say whether they think that a greater obligation for transparency would improve the situation. Details of responses received and public hearings to be held will hopefully be posted on the pages made available for them at the ERGEG web site.