Study on exemptions for third-country central banks and other entities under the Market Abuse Regulation and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation

In accordance with Article 1.9 of the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and Article 6.5 of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), this study reviews central banks’ and Debt Management Offices’ (DMOs) mandates and operational procedures for a selected group of non-EU countries. It describes the main legal framework for market abuse and for the transparency of operations and markets applicable to third-country (non-EU) central banks. The study also offers a snapshot of the current transparency of central banks’ balance sheets and trading activities with EU counterparts or in EU-listed financial instruments. For DMOs, the study only covers the market abuse regime, as DMOs are outside the scope of the MiFIR exemption. Market transparency and market abuse frameworks applicable in the EU are also discussed in this study, as a benchmark for the assessment of third-country regimes. The countries covered include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States (as well as the BIS under MiFIR). The report concludes that the extension of the exemptions under MiFIR and MAR is appropriate and necessary for all central banks and DMOs, with the exception of two institutions under the MiFIR regime and one institution under the MAR regime due to insufficient information and/or transaction data.