Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/960 of 1 February 2023 amending the regulatory technical standards laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/588 as regards the annual application date of the calculations of the average daily number of transactions for shares, depository receipts and exchange-traded funds for the purposes of the tick sizes (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU ¹, and in particular Article 49(3), third subparagraph, thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/588 ² sets out the tick size regime for shares, depository receipts and exchange-traded funds. In accordance with Article 3(1) of that Delegated Regulation, by 1 March each year, the competent authority for a specific share or depository receipt is to publish calculations of the average daily number of transactions for that financial instrument. In accordance with Article 3(4) of that Delegated Regulation, trading venues are to use those calculations to determine the applicable tick size from 1 April following that publication. That date of 1 April each year leads to difficulties for trading venues and their members or participants with regard to the implementation of the required changes to their IT systems and infrastructures. In particular, when 1 April is in the middle of the week, the implementation of the required changes needs to take place overnight. This gives trading venues limited time to update and test their IT systems and infrastructures. It is appropriate to allow trading venues and their members or participants to use the weekend to make the necessary adaptations to their IT systems and infrastructures. The published data should therefore apply from the first Monday of April each year. Such an amendment, in addition, ensures alignment with application of published calculations in accordance with Article 17(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/587 ³. Article 17(2) of that Delegated Regulation as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/944 ⁴, specifies that calculations on the most relevant market in terms of liquidity, the average daily turnover and the average value of transactions that are published by 1 March, are to apply from the first Monday of April following that publication.

• (2) Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/588 should therefore be amended accordingly.

• (3) This Regulation is based on the draft regulatory technical standards submitted to the Commission by the European Securities and Markets Authority.

• (4) The European Securities and Markets Authority has conducted open public consultations on the draft regulatory technical standards on which this Regulation is based, analysed the potential related costs and benefits and requested the advice of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group established in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁵,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Amendment to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/588

In Article 3 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/588, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4.   Trading venues shall apply the tick sizes of the liquidity band corresponding to the average daily number of transactions as published in accordance with paragraph 1 from the first Monday of April following that publication.’.

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 1 February 2023.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN