MiFIR Article 46

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TITLE VIII : PROVISION OF SERVICES AND PERFORMANCE OF ACTIVITIES BY THIRD-COUNTRY FIRMS FOLLOWING AN EQUIVALENCE DECISION WITH OR WITHOUT A BRANCH

Article 46 : General provisions

1. A third-country firm may provide investment services or perform investment activities with or without any ancillary services to eligible counterparties and to professional clients within the meaning of Section I of Annex II to Directive 2014/65/EU established throughout the Union without the establishment of a branch where it is registered in the register of third-country firms kept by ESMA in accordance with Article 47.
    
2. ESMA shall register a third-country firm that has applied for the provision of investment services or performance of activities throughout the Union in accordance with paragraph 1 only where the following conditions are met:
   
   (a) the Commission has adopted a decision in accordance with Article 47(1);
   
   (b) the firm is authorised in the jurisdiction where its head office is established to provide the investment services or activities to be provided in the Union and it is subject to effective supervision and enforcement ensuring a full compliance with the requirements applicable in that third country;
   
   (c) cooperation arrangements have been established pursuant to Article 47(2).
    
3. Where a third-country firm is registered in accordance with this Article, Member States shall not impose any additional requirements on the third-country firm in respect of matters covered by this Regulation or by Directive 2014/65/EU and shall not treat third-country firms more favourably than Union firms.
    
4. The third-country firm referred to in paragraph 1 shall submit its application to ESMA after the adoption by the Commission of the decision referred to in Article 47 determining that the legal and supervisory framework of the third country in which the third-country firm is authorised is equivalent to the requirements described in Article 47(1).
   
   The applicant third-country firm shall provide ESMA with all information necessary for its registration. Within 30 working days of receipt of the application, ESMA shall assess whether the application is complete. If the application is not complete, ESMA shall set a deadline by which the applicant third-country firm is to provide additional information.
   
   The registration decision shall be based on the conditions set out in paragraph 2.
   
   Within 180 working days of the submission of a complete application, ESMA shall inform the applicant third-country firm in writing with a fully reasoned explanation whether the registration has been granted or refused.
   
   Member States may allow third-country firms to provide investment services or perform investment activities together with ancillary services to eligible counterparties and professional clients within the meaning of Section I of Annex II to Directive 2014/65/EU in their territories in accordance with national regimes in the absence of the Commission decision in accordance with Article 47(1) or where such decision is no longer in effect.
    
5. Third-country firms providing services in accordance with this Article shall inform clients established in the Union, before the provision of any investment services, that they are not allowed to provide services to clients other than eligible counterparties and professional clients within the meaning of Section I of Annex II to Directive 2014/65/EU and that they are not subject to supervision in the Union. They shall indicate the name and the address of the competent authority responsible for supervision in the third country.
   
   The information in the first subparagraph shall be provided in writing and in a prominent way.
   
   Member States shall ensure that where an eligible counterparty or professional client within the meaning of Section I of Annex II to Directive 2014/65/EU established or situated in the Union initiates at its own exclusive initiative the provision of an investment service or activity by a third-country firm, this Article does not apply to the provision of that service or activity by the third-country firm to that person including a relationship specifically related to the provision of that service or activity. An initiative by such clients shall not entitle the third-country firm to market new categories of investment product or investment service to that individual.
    
6. Third-country firms providing services or performing activities in accordance with this Article shall, before providing any service or performing any activity in relation to a client established in the Union, offer to submit any disputes relating to those services or activities to the jurisdiction of a court or arbitral tribunal in a Member State.
    
7. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify the information that the applicant third-country firm shall provide to ESMA in its application for registration in accordance with paragraph 4 and the format of information to be provided in accordance with paragraph 5.
   
   ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 3 July 2015.
   
   Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.
    

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