The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), together with National Competent Authorities (NCAs), has agreed supplementary deferrals that can be applied on top of the standard Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) deferral regime for sovereign bonds. The change allows delayed volume disclosure for a defined subset of sovereign bond trades and is intended to support consistent application of the transparency regime. ESMA and all NCAs except the National Bank of Slovakia have decided that, for trades of a medium size on liquid sovereign bonds in Group 1, publication of the traded volume may be omitted until the end of the trading day. The authorities pointed to the short time between publication of the deferrals list and the start of the new regime on 2 March 2026 as creating potential implementation issues for trading venues, investment firms and Approved Publication Arrangements. The supplementary deferrals are scheduled to start applying on 4 May 2026.
European Securities and Markets Authority 2026-02-19
European Securities and Markets Authority and national regulators agree supplementary MiFIR deferrals for sovereign bond volume transparency from 4 May 2026
The European Securities and Markets Authority and National Competent Authorities have agreed on deferrals to the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation for sovereign bonds, allowing delayed volume disclosure for certain trades. Excluding the National Bank of Slovakia, this permits omission of traded volume publication for medium-sized trades on liquid sovereign bonds in Group 1 until the end of the trading day. The deferrals start on 4 May 2026, with concerns about the short lead time for trading venues and firms.