MiFID II Liquidity Landscape - Review of 2019

Heading into 2020 and despite the now supposed certainty of Brexit, European markets remain challenging. Overall equity volumes have continued their decline in 2019 and while percentages of overall dark and lit trading are relatively static the European liquidity remains fragmented.  

With further regulatory adjustment to MiFID II now imminent, the question of how MiFID will be addressed becomes interesting considering possible regulatory divergence between the UK and Europe post Brexit, planned forthcoming regulatory changes to Periodic Auctions as well as the outcome of Swiss Equivalence on European trading.

In this state of flux, the rising importance of execution within the investment process makes the situation critical for buy-side traders to resolve.  Yet declining trading volumes together with diminished commission pools is leading to further readjustment between the buy and sell-side. Staying relevant to your trading counterpart while understanding exactly how orders are executed has never been more complex, nor as necessary, to ensure delivery of best execution within the new trading landscape.

For the full report, click here.

Rebecca Healey and Charlotte Decuyper, Market Structure + Strategy, EMEA, and Gareth Exton and Joe Fields, Global Execution + Quantitative Services