Recital 6

(6) Dark trading is trading without pre-trade transparency, using the waiver laid down in Article 4(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (‘reference price waiver’) and the waiver laid down in Article 4(1), point (b)(i), of that Regulation (‘negotiated trade waiver’). The use of both waivers is capped by the double volume cap, which is a mechanism that limits the level of dark trading to a certain proportion of total trading in an equity instrument. First, the level of dark trading in an equity instrument on an individual venue is not to exceed 4 % of the total volume of trading in that instrument in the Union. When that threshold is exceeded, dark trading in that instrument on that venue is suspended. Second, the level of dark trading in an equity instrument in the Union is not to exceed 8 % of the total volume of trading in that instrument in the Union. When that second threshold is exceeded, all dark trading under both waivers in that instrument is suspended. The first threshold, namely the venue-specific threshold, leaves room for the continued use of those waivers on other venues on which trading in that equity instrument is not yet suspended, until the second threshold, namely the Union-wide threshold, is exceeded. That makes monitoring the levels of dark trading and enforcing the suspension more complex. To simplify the double volume cap while keeping its effectiveness, the new single volume cap should rely solely on a Union-wide threshold set at 7 %, which should apply only to trading under the reference price waiver and not to trading under the negotiated trade waiver. ESMA should regularly assess the volume-cap threshold, taking into account financial stability considerations, international best practices, the competitiveness of Union firms, the significance of the market impact and the efficiency of price formation, and should submit a report with its suggestions to the Commission. On that basis, the Commission should be empowered to adjust the volume-cap threshold by means of delegated acts. ESMA should also assess the appropriateness of the volume cap and whether it is necessary to remove it or to extend it to other trading systems or execution venues which derive their prices from a reference price.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-13 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.