ESMA Publishes Annual Equity Transparency Calculations

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the results of its annual transparency calculations for equity and equity-like instruments. These calculations, which will be effective from April 6, 2026, cover liquidity assessments, the determination of the most relevant market, average daily turnover for large-in-scale thresholds, average transaction value for standard market size, and the average daily number of transactions for the tick-size regime. Market participants are advised to monitor daily releases for newly traded instruments and the four-week calculations applicable after the initial six weeks of trading.

These updated transparency requirements, based on the published calculations, will apply from April 6, 2026, until April 4, 2027. Market participants, including fund managers, financial advisers, and broker-dealers, need to ensure their systems and processes are aligned with these new calculations to comply with pre-trade and post-trade transparency obligations under MiFID II/MiFIR. Failure to comply could result in regulatory scrutiny and potential enforcement actions.