Futures and Options Serving Intelligent Investors
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today published updated position limits for certain commodity derivative contracts traded on ICE Futures Europe. The limits have been established under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulations 2017 (MIFI Regs).
The limits are being revised in accordance with RTS 21, which states that position limits should be reviewed when there is a significant change in Open Interest, deliverable supply, or any other significant change in the market.
The changes reflect changing market conditions. In these cases, the continued use of a 2,500 lot limit could impair market functioning or growth in ways which MiFID II seeks to avoid, and a limit will be announced in due course when market changes have stabilised.
Where limits are To Be Announced “TBA”, we will give two months’ notice before any revised limits come into force to enable market participants to adjust their trading strategies in a responsible way.
The temporary suspension of limits (TFU and UKD) will apply immediately. WIM is a new contract being launched on 7 December, so there is no previous limit.
These limits may change in the event that we decide it is necessary.
The following table sets out the affected contracts and the revised limits:
| Contract | Venue Market Identifier Code | Product code | Previous Spot Month limit | Previous Other Months’ limit | Revised Spot Month limit | Revised Other Months’ limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch TTF Gas 1st Line Financial Futures (USD/MMBTU) | IFEU | TFU | 2,500 lots | 2,500 lots | TBA | TBA |
| UK NBP Gas 1st Line Financial Futures (USD/MMBTU) | IFEU | UKD | 2,500 lots | 2,500 lots | TBA | TBA |
| WIM LNG (Platts) Future | IFEU | WIM | – | – | TBA | TBA |
Full details of the commodity derivative contracts and the limits set on positions in them can be found at https://www.fca.org.uk/markets/mifid-ii/commodity-derivatives/position-limits.
