THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 [OJ L 173, 12.6.2014, p. 84.], and in particular Article 4(6), Article 7(2), Article 14(7), Article 20(3), Article 22(4) and Article 23(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) A high degree of transparency is essential to ensure that investors are adequately informed as to the true level of actual and potential transactions in shares, depositary receipts, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), certificates and other similar financial instruments irrespective of whether those transactions take place on regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities (MTFs), and by systematic internalisers, or outside those facilities. This high degree of transparency should also ensure that the price discovery process in respect of particular financial instruments traded on different trading venues is not impaired by the fragmentation of liquidity, and investors are not thereby penalised.