ESMA advises the European Commission to consider some, but not all, of ESMA’s original proposals — and gives guidance on pre-hedging and market soundings along the way.

Key Points:

..Pre-hedging / front running: ESMA proposes developing detailed guidance on acceptable practice, but identifies a number of factors such as trade by trade transparency that may be disruptive to some existing practices.

..Market soundings: ESMA has maintained its stance that the market soundings regime is compulsory, and is unmoved by arguments driven by conflicts of laws and extraterritorial effect.

..Insider lists: ESMA has provided some flexibility on the question of who should be included on an insider list, and how large a permanent insider list should be, without changing the thrust of its overall position that deal lists should capture only those who have accessed inside information.