Energy traders are at odds with new European Union rules designed to halt speculation in commodities, arguing that companies won’t be able to efficiently manage risk and market volatility could in fact spike. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) this week announced its final rules to flesh out the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) law that comes into force in January 2017. MiFID II is the biggest overhaul of EU securities rules in a decade, designed to apply lessons from the 2007-09 financial crisis when food prices hit record highs due to speculators such as hedge funds. But the unintended consequences are that the new rules will encompass commodity market wholesalers — the market’s main liquidity life-line. “ESMA sees wholesalers as speculators, when they should be […]