Circular CSSF 21/783 (outdated)

What Changed

• - CSSF Circular 21/783, which applied ESMA’s Guidelines on MiFID II/MiFIR obligations on market data in Luxembourg, will cease to be applicable as of 23 August 2026 and is formally classified as “outdated”.
• The supervisory reference framework for market data obligations in Luxembourg shifts from ESMA soft-law Guidelines to binding regulatory technical standards contained in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1156 supplementing MiFIR.
• Requirements on making market data available to the public on a “reasonable commercial basis” are now set out in directly applicable EU law, including detailed RTS criteria on cost-based pricing, non-discriminatory access, and unbundling of pre- and
• ESMA’s interpretative role via Guidelines is replaced by binding RTS, which reduces reliance on national circulars and increases harmonisation of market data rules across EU trading venues and data providers.
• Luxembourg firms can no longer rely on Circular 21/783 as the primary interpretative document for market data obligations; instead, their compliance frameworks must directly reference Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1156 and core MiFIR provisions.
• Any CSSF administrative practices or internal policies that explicitly implement or cross‑reference ESMA’s withdrawn Guidelines will need to be identified and updated to reflect the new RTS regime.

Suggested Considerations

• Identify and catalogue all internal policies, procedures, contractual templates, and pricing frameworks that reference CSSF Circular 21/783 or ESMA’s MiFID II/MiFIR market data Guidelines.
• Review Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1156 in detail and map its RTS requirements (e.g. cost-based pricing, non-discriminatory access, data unbundling, publication formats) against current market data practices.
• Update market data pricing policies to ensure that fees are demonstrably based on reasonable commercial basis criteria defined in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1156, including documentation of cost allocation and margin methodology.
• Revise market data access policies and client terms to ensure non‑discriminatory conditions and appropriate unbundling of pre‑trade and post‑trade data, in line with the RTS.
• Amend compliance manuals, MiFID/MiFIR control frameworks, and training materials to remove references to CSSF Circular 21/783 and ESMA Guidelines, replacing them with references to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1156.
• Conduct a gap analysis comparing existing contractual arrangements with clients and vendors against the new RTS requirements, and implement contract remediation where terms conflict with or fall short of the Delegated Regulation.

Key Dates

Who is Affected