(Article 15(1), 15(2) and 15(3) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014)

1. For the purposes of Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014, exceptional market conditions are considered to exist where to impose on a systematic internaliser an obligation to provide firm quotes to clients would be contrary to prudent risk management and, in particular, where:

(a) the trading venue where the financial instrument was first admitted to trading or the most relevant market in terms of liquidity halts trading for that financial instrument in accordance with paragraph 3B of the Schedule to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Recognition Requirements for Investment Exchanges, Clearing Houses and Central Securities Depositories) Regulations 2001 [S.I. 2001/995. Paragraph 3B was inserted by S.I. 2017/701.] or rules 5.3A.5 to 5.3A.8 or 5A.5.5 to 5A.5.8 of the Market Conduct sourcebook;

(b) the trading venue where the financial instrument was first admitted to trading or the most relevant market in terms of liquidity allows market making obligations to be suspended;

(c) in the case of an exchange traded fund, a reliable market price is not available for a significant number of instruments underlying the ETF or the index;