In a presentation to industry and EU officials as the rules were being debated in September, Shell argued for MiFID II to be revised as “physical [commodity] trades should remain out of financial regulation”, warning that proposals to subject them to the same rules would “add considerable costs leading to higher bills for consumers”.
The latest version of the proposal now excludes physical commodity trades from the regulation.
Shell also argued against the draft market abuse proposals to stop insider dealing, arguing they would require it to disclose too much information about, for example, refinery breakdowns, leading to “price spikes”, greater volatility and “higher bills for consumers”.
The presentation also made clear that Shell supported an increased “appropriate transparency”.
Seth Freedman, the former ICIS Heren price reporter who blew the whistle on alleged gas price rigging, said: “It is vital that MiFID II and related regulations are applied stringently to energy markets.”
Shell declined to comment.