On 31 March 2016 ACER issued the interpretation of the scope of standard contracts "admitted to trading" at an organised market place for the purposes of REMIT transactions and orders reporting scheme, with particular focus on broker platform traded contracts and voice-brokered contracts.
See the text of the said clarification in the box below.
This guidance aims to clarify the Agency's understanding of the difference between a standard contract and a non-standard contract based on Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1348/2014 which states:
(2) 'standard contract' means a contract concerning a wholesale energy product admitted to trading at an organised market place, irrespective of whether or not the transaction actually takes place on that market place;
(3) 'non-standard contract' means a contract concerning any wholesale energy product that is not a standard contract;
In the Agency's view it is essential to further clarify the meaning of "admitted to trading" at an organised market place.
A contract admitted to trading at an organised market place is a contract that is visible to the market and available for trading to market participants.
Exchange traded contracts
For exchange traded contracts it is clear what "a contract admitted to trading" means. In this case a contract that is listed on the exchange is a tradable instrument and it can be registered at the exchange when two parties agree on the price off-screen.
Broker platform traded contracts
For a contract admitted to trading on brokers' platforms it is worth to further clarify the meaning of "admitted to trading".
Brokers, in the context of Article 2(4) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1348/2014, advertise tradable contracts on their platforms. These contracts have certain specifications such as clip size (contract size), delivery point of the energy commodity, delivery start and end date, hours of the delivery and any other specification to identify the contract. These contracts, e.g. within day or day ahead contract as well as any forward contract, are tradable multiple times until their "expiration date and time" (last trading date and time) is reached.
Once a contract is admitted to trading on the Broker's platform (visible on their screen) it can usually be traded several times either on the screen or voice brokered by both by both buyers and sellers until the date and time the contract is tradable. For example:
1. Hourly electricity product: this can be traded for several days before the gate closure;
2. Day-ahead gas or electricity product: this can be traded for several hours during the day before the delivery of the gas/electricity starts; and
3. A monthly/quarterly/seasonal forward product: this can be traded every day for several months before the delivery starts.
In the Agency's view these contracts have to be considered standard contracts admitted to trading at an organised market place. As a consequence the organised market place where these wholesale energy products were executed or the order was placed shall, at the request of the market participant, offer a data reporting agreement in line with Article 6(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1348/2014.
Voice-brokered contracts
In general, the above considerations apply the same way for broker platform traded contracts and voice-brokered contracts. In this context, the references in the TRUM to "including voice brokered" should be understood as referring to those situations where the contracts:
1) are admitted to trading at organised market places;
2) an order is visible on the screen; and
3) a voice brokered order matches the order on the screen. That trade is considered a voice brokered trade.
Specificities of voice-brokered shaped/profile contracts
When a shaped/profile contract is voice brokered without being advertised on the screen of the broker (e.g. a broker's client asks the broker to find a counterparty to a shaped/profile contract), it would be traded only once and would then expire and not be tradable any more (as opposed to those contracts that are traded on the screen and that can be traded multiple times). In the Agenot to be considered "admitted" (advertised on the broker's screen) to trading at an organised market place and it should not be considered a standard contract. Therefore, and in line with Article 7(4) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1348/2014 these contracts shall be reported no later than one month following their conclusion, modification or termination.
Since these contracts are voice brokered and executed at an organised market place, in the Agency's view, the broker (in the context of Article 2(4) of the Commission Implementing Regulation) shall at the request of the market participant offer a data reporting agreement in line with Article 6(1) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1348/2014.
Some organised market places may allow their clients to upload on the screen (and therefore be visible to the market) complex shaped/profile contracts for the trading on that organised market place and those contracts which are subject to bids or offers.
Although these contracts might not be traded several times (they may be, or may not be, removed once they are matched) they are still admitted to trading on the screen of the broker and therefore, in the Agency's view, they have to be considered admitted to trading at an organised market place. When this is the case, no matter the contract's complexity, as long as the contract is visible to the market it is considered admitted to trading at the organised market place and it should be considered a standard contract.
The Agency understands that the reporting of complex contracts on a T+1 day basis may bring up some difficulties for the organised market place and/or the reporting party; however, they should make their best effort to report complex shaped/profile contracts (considered standard contracts according to REMIT) as soon as possible.
Consequences of the criterion "admitted to trading" for the transaction reporting obligation
Transactions related to products admitted to trading at the organised market place are subject to the reporting obligations for standard contracts and reportable on a T+ 1 day basis, irrespective of whether they are traded on screen or voice brokered.
Transactions related to any other products that is not a standard contract are subject to the reporting obligations for non-standard contracts and reportable on a T+1 month basis.
TRUM version 2.1, p. 19 et seq.