Article 21a — Designated publishing entities

1.Competent authorities shall grant investment firms the status of designated publishing entity for specific classes of financial instrument, upon the request of those investment firms. The competent authority shall communicate such requests to ESMA.

2.Where only one party to a transaction is a designated publishing entity pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, that party shall be responsible for making transactions public through an APA in accordance with Article 20(1) or Article 21(1).

3.Where neither of the parties to a transaction, or both of the parties to a transaction, are designated publishing entities pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, only the entity that sells the financial instrument concerned shall be responsible for making the transaction public through an APA in accordance with Article 20(1) or Article 21(1).

4.ESMA shall by 29 September 2024 establish and shall regularly update a register of all designated publishing entities, specifying their identity and the classes of financial instrument for which they are designated publishing entities. ESMA shall publish that register on its website.