Do all legal entities that deal in commodity derivatives within a financial group need to be individually authorised as investment firms?
Answer 1
Yes. Under Article 2(1)(j), the exemption for trading in commodity derivatives only applies when the main business of the group is considered on an overall basis not to be the provision of investment services within the meaning of this Directive or banking activities under Directive 2013/36/EU.
Therefore, all entities within a group which cannot be considered as a non-financial group are required to obtain authorisation as an investment firm under MiFID II if they wish to trade commodity derivatives.