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 Articles 2(2), 13(2), 15(5), 17(3), Article 19(2) and (3), and Articles 31(4), 40(8), 41(8), 42(7) and 45(10) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) This Regulation further specifies the criteria for the determination of 'liquid market' in accordance with Article 2(1)(17)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014. For this purpose it is necessary to specify the criteria for free float, average daily number of transactions and average daily turnover specifically for shares, depositary receipts, exchange traded funds and certificates to take into account the specificities of each of these financial instruments. Rules specifying how liquidity calculations should be performed during the initial stage after the financial instrument is admitted to trading are required to ensure a consistent and uniform application across the Union.

(2) The provisions in this Regulation are closely linked, since they deal with definitions and specify requirements in relation to pre-and post-trade transparency by systematic internalisers and data publication by trading venues and systematic internalisers, on the one hand, and the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) product intervention and position management powers, on the other. To ensure coherence between those provisions which should enter into force at the same time, and in order to facilitate a comprehensive view for stakeholders and, in particular, those subject to the obligations, it is necessary to include these provisions in a single Regulation.