1.

An investment firm shall ensure that the trades it undertakes in shares which have a European Economic Area (EEA) International Securities Identification Number (ISIN), and which are traded on a trading venue, take place on a regulated market, an MTF, a systematic internaliser or a third-country trading venue assessed as equivalent in accordance with Article 25(4), point (a), of Directive 2014/65/EU, as appropriate, unless:

(a) those shares are traded on a third-country venue in the local currency or in a non-EEA currency; or

(b) those trades are carried out between eligible counterparties, between professional counterparties or between eligible and professional counterparties and do not contribute to the price discovery process.

2. An investment firm that operates an internal matching system which executes client orders in shares, depositary receipts, ETFs, certificates and other similar financial instruments on a multilateral basis must ensure it is authorised as an MTF under Directive 2014/65/EU and comply with all relevant provisions pertaining to such authorisations.