To preserve financial stability , EU supervisory agencies for energy markets and for financial markets on Tuesday said they will intensify their cooperation and improve their exchange of information, seeking to avoid potential market abuse in Europe’s energy and derivatives markets.
The tighter cooperation between Acer, the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, and Esma, the European Securities and Markets Authority, includes the creation of a new joint task force that will fight market manipulation in cross-border financial and commodity markets for electricity, gas markets and emission allowances.
“In the current energy crisis characterised by high prices and price volatility, vigilance in detecting market manipulation and insider trading is more important than ever to ensure confidence in EU wholesale energy and financial derivatives trading,” the two agencies said in a joint statement.
‘Enhanced monitoring of risks’
The joint Acer–Esma task force will provide a framework for broadening cooperation on the monitoring of energy and energy derivatives markets. “Acer and Esma are also ready to cooperate in additional areas in the future,” they said. “This could notably be the case in the context of the possible new LNG benchmark currently under consideration by the European Commission, and with an enhanced monitoring of risks in energy markets, helping to preserve financial stability in EU markets.”
National regulators and competition authorities in EU member states will also be involved in order to “discuss implementation issues” concerning market abuse rules and “share their experience” in relation to their supervisory activity and enforcement actions to ensure consistency across the EU.