ACER Publishes The First Of A Series Of Guidance Notes On Types Of Practices Which Could Constitute Market Manipulation Under REMIT

The Agency publishes today the first Guidance Note on types of practices which could constitute market manipulation under REMIT. In this case the practice covered is wash trades, defined by ACER as the act of a market participant entering into arrangements for the sale or purchase of a wholesale energy product, where there is no change in beneficial interests or market risk or where the beneficial interest or market risk is transferred between parties who are acting in concert or collusion.

This Guidance Note complements the ACER Guidance on the application of REMIT. It seeks to help NRAs reviewing suspicious events involving wash trades to decide whether to open an investigation on a potential breach of the prohibition of market manipulation under REMIT. It provides a general framework promoting a consistent approach to the assessment of wash trades on energy markets.

To this end, the Guidance Note explores the concept of wash trades and provides illustrative examples. It further assesses wash trades against the definition of market manipulation under REMIT and sets out recommendations towards NRAs, aimed at facilitating the consistent fulfilment of the obligation of persons professionally arranging transactions (PPATs) according to REMIT.

The Guidance Note on wash trade is available here.
The ACER Guidance (4^th edition) on the application of REMIT is here.