Several major financial services firms have gained regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK to operate approved reporting mechanisms (ARMs).
Bloomberg, MarketAxess’ Trax, the London Stock Exchange Group’s UnaVista and NEX Group’s Abide Financial were among those to get the go-ahead, meaning they can provide transaction reporting services for MiFID II.
Ben Macdonald, global head of enterprise products, described the authorisation of its ARM for MiFID II as “the final piece of the puzzle allowing Bloomberg to offer a complete regulatory reporting service for MiFID II”.
Similarly, Christophe Roupie, head of Europe and Asia at MarketAxess and Trax, said the FCA’s approval of the Trax ARM “marks an important milestone in the development of our MiFID II reporting solutions”.
At UnaVista, CEO Mark Husler, explained hundreds of clients have already been testing the ARM and preparing for the regulatory go-live date.
“Through our enhanced UnaVista offering and the recently approved TRADEcho platform, LSEG can offer customers a single connectivity solution for all their real time publication and reporting requirements under MiFID II and MiFIR for both on-exchange and OTC transactions,” Husler said.
Collin Coleman, head of NEX Regulatory Reporting, added: “ARMs are a fundamental component for tracking and tackling market abuse, one of the key aims of MiFID II.”
The firms who gained approval to operate as ARMs gained similar regulatory approval in August to operate an approved publication arrangement (APA).
As APAs, those firms will be able to publish reports on trades for post-trade transparency on behalf of clients as required under the impending European regulation.