We examine the equity market reaction to events associated with the passage of a directive in the European Union (EU) mandating increased nonfinancial disclosure. These disclosures relate to firms' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, and would be applicable to firms listed...

With the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive in effect since November 2007, new trading venues have emerged in European equities trading, among them Chi-X. This paper analyzes the impact of this new market entrant on the home market as well as on consolidated liquidity of French blue chip...

This paper examines effects of MiFID II on European stock markets. We study the effects of the new tick size regime, both intraday and in the closing auction. An increase (decrease) in tick size is associated with a decrease (increase) in intraday liquidity, but a more (less) stable market. In...

Most corporate bond research on liquidity and dealer inventories is based on the USD-denominated bonds transactions in the US reported to TRACE. Some of these bonds, however, are also traded in Europe, and those trades are not subject to the TRACE reporting requirements. Leveraging our access to...

Just over three years after enacting a Minimum Exchange Rate policy for the Swiss Franc vs. Euro (EUR/CHF), the Swiss National Bank (SNB) removed it in a surprise announcement on January 15, 2015. The announcement shocked the FX market — EUR/CHF dropped 25.5 percent in the minutes that...

This paper studies price discovery and price convergence in securities trading within a fragmented market environment where stocks are traded on multiple venues. Although alternative venues currently increase their market share, trading on these venues instantly dries out in case the dominant...

Using high-frequency data from the European Climate Exchange (ECX), we examine the determinants of price impact of €21 billion-worth of block trades during 2008-2011 in the European carbon market. We find that wider bid-ask spreads and volatility are characterised by smaller price impact....

We study a special form of securities market circuit breaker, i.e., European volatility interruptions. Instead of halt trading like traditional circuit breaker, these short-living call auctions allow for continual price discovery after price limit hits. Based upon approximately 1,800 Xetra...

This paper shows how the US, UK, Germany and China are financially connected through their stock market liquidity in the COVID-19 pandemic. Using high frequency data on transaction costs, we identify a decrease in stock market liquidity and an increase in liquidity commonality amongst these...

The present article contains a brief but comprehensive overview of the development of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project in the EU to further deepen EU capital markets’ integration. After the Introduction, it first discusses the Commission’s 2015 CMU Action Plan and its follow-up,...