Article 57 — Position limits and position management controls in commodity derivatives

1.Member States shall ensure that competent authorities, in line with the calculation methodology determined by ESMA in the regulatory technical standards adopted in accordance with paragraph 3, set and apply limits on the size of a net position which a person can hold at all times in agricultural commodity derivatives and critical or significant commodity derivatives that are traded on trading venues, and in economically equivalent OTC contracts. Commodity derivatives shall be considered to be critical or significant where the sum of all net positions of end position holders constitutes the size of their open interest and is at a minimum of 300 000 lots on average over a one-year period. The limits shall be set based on all positions held by a person and those held on his or her behalf at an aggregate group level in order to:

2.Position limits shall specify clear quantitative thresholds for the maximum size of a position in a commodity derivative that persons can hold.

3.ESMA shall draw up a list of critical or significant commodity derivatives referred to in paragraph 1 and develop draft regulatory technical standards to determine the calculation methodology that competent authorities are to apply when establishing the spot month position limits and other months’ position limits for physically settled and cash settled commodity derivatives based on the characteristics of the relevant derivative concerned.

4.A competent authority shall set position limits for critical or significant commodity derivatives and agricultural commodity derivatives that are traded on trading venues, based on the calculation methodology laid down in the regulatory technical standards adopted by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 3. Such position limits shall include economically equivalent OTC contracts.

5.Competent authorities shall notify ESMA of the exact position limits they intend to set in accordance with the methodology for calculation established by ESMA under paragraph 3. Within two months following receipt of the notification, ESMA shall issue an opinion to the competent authority concerned assessing the compatibility of position limits with the objectives of paragraph 1 and with the methodology for calculation established by ESMA under paragraph 3. ESMA shall publish the opinion on its website. The competent authority concerned shall modify the position limits in accordance with ESMA’s opinion, or provide ESMA with justification why the change is considered to be unnecessary. Where a competent authority imposes limits contrary to an ESMA opinion, it shall immediately publish on its website a notice fully explaining its reasons for doing so.

6.Where agricultural commodity derivatives based on the same underlying and sharing the same characteristics are traded in significant volumes on trading venues in more than one jurisdiction, or where critical or significant commodity derivatives based on the same underlying and sharing the same characteristics are traded on trading venues in more than one jurisdiction, the competent authority of the trading venue where the largest volume of trading takes place (‘central competent authority’) shall set the single position limit to be applied on all trading in those derivatives. The central competent authority shall consult the competent authorities of other trading venues on which those agricultural commodity derivatives are traded in significant volumes or on which those critical or significant commodity derivatives are traded, on the single position limit to be applied and any revisions to that single position limit.

7.ESMA shall monitor at least once a year the way competent authorities have implemented the position limits set in accordance with the calculation methodology established by ESMA under paragraph 3. In doing so, ESMA shall ensure that a single position limit effectively applies to the agricultural commodity derivatives and critical or significant contracts based on the same underlying and sharing the same characteristics irrespective of where they are traded in line with paragraph 6.

8.Member States shall ensure that an investment firm or a market operator operating a trading venue which trades commodity derivatives applies position management controls, including powers for the trading venue to:

9.The position limits and position management controls shall be transparent and non-discriminatory, specifying how they apply to persons and taking account of the nature and composition of market participants and of the use they make of the contracts submitted to trading.

10.The investment firm or market operator operating the trading venue shall inform the competent authority of the details of position management controls.

11.The position limits of paragraph 1 shall be imposed by competent authorities pursuant to point (p) of Article 69(2).

12.ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to determine:

13.Competent authorities shall not impose limits which are more restrictive than those adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 except in exceptional cases where they are objectively justified and proportionate taking into account the liquidity of the specific market and the orderly functioning of that market. Competent authorities shall publish on their website the details of the more restrictive position limits they decide to impose, which shall be valid for an initial period not exceeding six months from the date of their publication on the website. The more restrictive position limits may be renewed for further periods not exceeding six months at a time if the grounds for the restriction continue to be applicable. If not renewed after that six-month period, they shall automatically expire.

14.Member States shall provide that competent authorities can apply their powers to impose sanctions under this Directive for the infringements of position limits set in accordance with this Article to: