EU financial governance and transparency regulation: a test for the effectiveness of post-crisis administrative governance

This chapter outlines the main features of the extensive new transparency regime which will apply to trading in a wide range of asset classes under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation 2014 (MiFIR). It suggests that while the new regime will have significant market-shaping effects it will also prove revealing as to the effectiveness of the administrative governance apparatus which currently supports EU financial governance. In particular, the new transparency regime is exposing weaknesses in regulatory administrative governance, notably with respect to how the EU deals with uncertainty. Specifically, the absence of a power to suspend administrative rules where they prove to have de-stabilizing effects may prove a significant challenge to the effectiveness of EU financial governance given the uncertain impact of MiFIR on financial markets.