The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced an update to the EU volume cap framework, moving from the double volume cap mechanism to a single volume cap mechanism in October 2025 in line with the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation Review. Under the new volume cap mechanism, trading under the reference price waiver will be limited to 7% of the total aggregated EU trading volume over the previous 12 months for each equity and equity-like financial instrument. If the cap is breached, trading venues will need to suspend use of the waiver for the relevant instrument for three months, based on ESMA-published data. To support the change and reduce reporting burden, ESMA will base future calculations on transaction reporting data collected by National Competent Authorities, and the existing double volume cap reporting system will be decommissioned in January 2026. ESMA has submitted an amendment to Regulatory Technical Standard 3 for adoption and expects to publish the first calculation results on 9 October 2025.
European Securities and Markets Authority 2025-07-24
European Securities and Markets Authority sets out October 2025 move to single 7% volume cap for reference price waiver trading
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will transition to a single volume cap mechanism for trading under the reference price waiver in October 2025, limiting it to 7% of the total aggregated EU trading volume per instrument. Breaches will require a three-month suspension of the waiver. ESMA will use transaction reporting data from National Competent Authorities for calculations, decommissioning the double volume cap in January 2026.