Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/825 of 14 April 2026 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU
as it stood on 2026-04-14, permalink: /eu-eurlex/32026r0825/2026-04-14--bc96336cc69f970dd42623c6195b2a98966f7929bf0fd4c1377963a44a316f1e
Article 1
For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘execution venue’ means an execution venue as referred to in Article 64(1), second subparagraph of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565.
Article 2
- Investment firms shall ensure that their order execution policy contains the following:
| (a) | the internal governance procedures for the selection of execution venues; |
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| (b) | the measures taken to ensure that the selected execution venues are authorised by competent authorities or, where the execution venue is in a third country, by the third-country authorities. |
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- Investment firms shall maintain an internal list of the execution venues selected as part of their order execution policy, which shall contain the following information in respect of each execution venue:
| (a) | the name and identifier of the execution venue; |
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| (b) | the date on which the investment firm approved the execution venue for its order execution policy; |
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| (c) | the name and function of the person or the governance body of the investment firm that approved the selection of the execution venue; |
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| (d) | the classes of financial instruments for which the execution venue may be used; |
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| (e) | the types of transactions for which the execution venue may be used, including securities financing transactions as defined in Article 3, point (11), of Regulation (EU) 2015/2365 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7); |
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| (f) | whether the execution venue may be used only for retail or professional clients, or for both; |
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| (g) | any limitations, other than those set out in points (d), (e) and (f), to the use of the execution venue. |
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Investment firms shall specify in their order execution policy the arrangements and valuation systems, including a list of data providers used for that valuation, that are used to perform systematic and robust checks of the fairness of the price for orders executed on behalf of clients in classes of financial instruments, including bespoke products, executed over the counter, as required by Article 64(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565.
Investment firms that offer both the investment services of execution of orders on behalf of clients and reception and transmission of orders shall specify in their order execution policy how they comply with the obligation to act in the best interests of their clients, as required by Article 24(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU, when deciding whether or not to execute an order.
Article 3
- When selecting execution venues for their order execution policy, investment firms shall take into account the characteristics and needs of the clients to which they provide investment services and the elements referred to in Article 27(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU, including in particular:
| (a) | the availability of certain order types; |
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| (b) | for the criterion of size, the typical or relevant order sizes of their clients and the typical or relevant frequencies of orders; |
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| (c) | for the criterion of price, a comparison of execution prices of potential execution venues with the reference data referred to in paragraph 2; |
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| (d) | for the criterion of costs, the following fees and costs charged to the investment firm:(i)order execution fees and any other trading fees on execution venues;(ii)costs of membership to execution venues or connectivity to them;(iii)costs and charges for clearing, settlement, custody and other administration services related to the choice of execution venues. |
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| (i) | order execution fees and any other trading fees on execution venues; |
| (ii) | costs of membership to execution venues or connectivity to them; |
| (iii) | costs and charges for clearing, settlement, custody and other administration services related to the choice of execution venues. |
For the purposes of point (c), investment firms may use, for the reference dataset, information from consolidated tape providers, where such information is available.
- The reference data on which investment firms shall rely, shall comply with the following conditions:
| (a) | those data provide a complete and accurate presentation of the execution prices obtained in the market for the class of financial instruments assessed and that has been identified in accordance with Article 9; |
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| (b) | those data contain at least the data on execution prices from the most liquid execution venues for the instruments traded within each class of financial instruments that has been identified in accordance with Article 9; |
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| (c) | for classes of financial instruments that have been identified in accordance with Article 9 and any sub-classes of financial instruments in those classes, which are executed over-the- counter, including bespoke products, those data contain market data which enable the investment firm to assess the fairness of the price proposed to the client, as referred to in Article 64(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565. |
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Investment firms may use reference data from consolidated tape providers, where such information is available.
- Investment firms that select only one execution venue to execute client orders for a given class of financial instruments identified in accordance with Article 9, or for all client orders, shall justify in their order execution policy how selecting only one execution venue ensures that that choice obtains the best possible result for clients on a consistent basis.
Article 4
Where a client order may be executed on two or more execution venues included in the list referred to in Article 2(2), investment firms shall specify in their order execution policy the criteria and their relative importance for identifying the execution venue where they expect to obtain the best possible result for executing a client order.
The criteria referred to in paragraph 1 shall enable investment firms to identify the execution venue expected to obtain the best possible result for executing the client order, including by taking into account the following:
| (a) | the class of financial instruments that has been identified in accordance with Article 9; |
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| (b) | whether the client is a retail or a professional client; |
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| (c) | all costs directly related to the execution of the order, including any fees and commissions charged by the investment firm itself; |
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| (d) | the size and nature of the order; |
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| (e) | market data, including historical market data, where relevant and available. |
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Investment firms that execute orders on behalf of retail clients shall only take into account the criteria that have a direct impact on the total consideration for retail clients, as referred to in Article 27(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU.
- Investment firm that use an automatic order routing system shall specify in their order execution policy:
| (a) | the main characteristics of the system; |
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| (b) | the arrangements in place to ensure that the functioning of that automatic order routing system takes into account the criteria set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 in order to obtain the best possible result for their clients. |
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Article 5
- Investment firms shall set out in their order execution policy that specific instructions from their clients may prevent the investment firm:
| (a) | from complying with all or part of the requirements laid down in Article 3; |
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| (b) | from obtaining the best possible result when executing the client’s order. |
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Investment firms that execute orders based on client instructions shall have in place arrangements on how to deal with those instructions in the client’s best interest.
- In their order execution policy, investment firms shall lay down how to differentiate between orders with and without specific client instructions.
An order with specific client instructions shall contain clear instructions from the client, including any of the following:
| (a) | a choice by the client of one option out of multiple options offered by the investment firm related to a part or aspect of the order, or, where explicitly requested by the client, all parts and aspects of the order; |
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| (b) | an instruction by the client to the investment firm to handle the order in a different way than provided for by the order execution policy of that investment firm. |
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Investment firms that receive a specific client instruction related to a part or aspect of the order shall only treat that part or aspect of the order as a specific client instruction. Investment firms shall ensure that all other parts or aspects are processed in the same way as orders without specific client instructions.
Investment firms that offer a retail client a choice of the execution venue shall lay down the following in their order execution policy:
| (a) | how the order execution policy prevents inducing a client to choose a specific execution venue; |
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| (b) | where the commissions charged differ per execution venue, how the investment firm complies with Article 64(3) and Article 66(5) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565; |
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| (c) | that clients are free not to specify the execution venue of their choice, in which case the choice of the execution venue and the obligation to obtain the best possible result for the execution of the order remain the responsibility of the investment firm; |
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| (d) | that the order will be routed in accordance with the order execution policy of the investment firm where the client does not choose the execution venue. |
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Article 6
- Investment firms the order execution policy of which permits those investment firms to execute orders of their clients by dealing on own account shall specify in their order execution policy the following:
| (a) | how the investment firm obtains the best possible result for its clients when executing client orders by dealing on own account; |
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| (b) | the measures implemented to identify, prevent, and manage the conflicts of interest related to executing client orders by dealing on own account; |
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| (c) | how the firm assesses the risks for clients when executing client orders by dealing on own account; |
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| (d) | the steps taken by the firm to comply with the obligations set out in Articles 67, 68, 69 and 70 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565; |
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| (e) | where the investment firm executes client orders in over-the-counter (OTC) products, how it complies with Article 64(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 and how it ensures the fairness of the price. |
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- Investment firms the order execution policy of which permits those investment firms to execute orders of their clients by dealing on own account shall check the fairness of the price proposed to the client by taking into account the price of the financial instrument observed on the market at the time of the transaction. Where no reliable price is available, those investment firms shall establish the reference price through the market price of other similar, comparable, or underlying financial instruments. In the absence of reliable prices for similar, comparable, or underlying financial instruments, those investment firms shall use an internal pricing model, based on reliable and accurate data reflecting market conditions.
Article 7
Investment firms shall monitor the effectiveness of their order execution policy, including the following elements:
| (a) | whether client orders are executed in compliance with the order execution policy; |
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| (b) | the quality obtained by executing client orders in compliance with the order execution policy; |
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| (c) | the price of execution, taking into account the reference data, including, where available, reference data from the consolidated tape that the firm may have used; |
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| (d) | for each class of financial instruments identified in accordance with Article 9, based on a representative sample for each class, whether the execution quality is obtained on a consistent basis, based on thresholds pre-determined by the investment firm for the following indicators:(i)the accepted deviation of the execution price of client orders from the relevant value of execution prices in the reference data;(ii)the minimum percentage of the total volume traded of executed client orders that meets the relevant values of execution prices in the reference data out of the total number of executed client orders;(iii)the minimum number of executed client orders that meets the relevant values of execution prices in the reference data; |
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| (i) | the accepted deviation of the execution price of client orders from the relevant value of execution prices in the reference data; |
| (ii) | the minimum percentage of the total volume traded of executed client orders that meets the relevant values of execution prices in the reference data out of the total number of executed client orders; |
| (iii) | the minimum number of executed client orders that meets the relevant values of execution prices in the reference data; |
| (e) | all other factors relevant to the execution of client orders as set out in Article 27(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU. |
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Article 8
- Investment firms shall assess the effectiveness of their order execution policy, at least annually, and whenever:
| (a) | the monitoring of the order execution policy in accordance with Article 7 indicates that the investment firm does not comply with its order execution policy or with the requirements set out in Article 27(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU; |
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| (b) | a material change, as referred to in Article 65(7), fourth subparagraph of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565, occurs that affects the ability of the investment firm to continue to obtain the best possible result for its clients. |
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- The periodic assessment referred to in paragraph 1 shall in particular take into account:
| (a) | the costs and fees charged to the investment firm as referred to in Article 3(1), point (c); |
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| (b) | the results of the monitoring referred to in Article 7; |
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| (c) | financial market developments, including liquidity dry-ups, and the impact of such developments on:(i)the obtained and expected execution quality of the selected execution venues;(ii)the ability of the selected execution venues to obtain the best possible result for clients of the investment firm on a consistent basis; |
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| (i) | the obtained and expected execution quality of the selected execution venues; |
| (ii) | the ability of the selected execution venues to obtain the best possible result for clients of the investment firm on a consistent basis; |
| (d) | the emergence of new execution venues, including:(i)new functionalities offered by those new execution venues;(ii)the cost-efficiency of the fee structures offered by those new execution venues;(iii)the transparency in price formation offered by those new execution venues;(iv)levels of liquidity or execution services offered by those new execution venues; |
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| (i) | new functionalities offered by those new execution venues; |
| (ii) | the cost-efficiency of the fee structures offered by those new execution venues; |
| (iii) | the transparency in price formation offered by those new execution venues; |
| (iv) | levels of liquidity or execution services offered by those new execution venues; |
| (e) | the disappearance of the selected execution venues, including due to mergers or bankruptcies. |
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In addition to compliance with the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 2, investment firms that selected only one execution venue to execute client orders in a given class of financial instruments identified in accordance with Article 9 or all client orders shall assess periodically whether executing client orders on one execution venue continues to ensure that those investment firms obtain the best possible result for clients on a consistent basis. As part of the assessment, investment firms shall make a comparison with available alternative execution venues.
Investment firms shall update their order execution policy and internal arrangements to correct any deficiencies to the effectiveness identified in their periodic assessments as soon as possible within a reasonable period after the assessment, considering the seriousness of the deficiency.
Article 9
Investment firms shall identify classes of financial instruments for which they execute orders on behalf of clients in accordance with the Annex.
Investment firms shall identify separate subclasses of financial instruments, within the classes set out in the Annex, in either of the following circumstances:
| (a) | where a significant number of orders is executed or is expected to be executed in financial instruments with different methods of execution within the same class of financial instruments, as referred to in the Annex; |
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| (b) | where the classes set out in the Annex do not allow for an effective monitoring and assessment of the order execution quality. |
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Article 10
Delegated Regulations (EU) 2017/575 and (EU) 2017/576 are repealed.
Article 11
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 12 February 2028.
Provenance and validity dates, identifier, hash
| as of | 2026-04-14 → this publisher state was selected |
| publisher state | publisher version 2026-04-14 → latest held publisher-asserted |
| type | REG_DEL Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/825 of 14 April 2026 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards specifying the criteria to be taken into account in establishing and assessing the effectiveness of order execution policies of investment firms and repealing Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2017/575 and (EU) 2017/576 |
| language | en |
| published | 2026-04-14 |
| lex_id | eu-eurlex:32026r0825:2026-04-14--bc96336cc69f970dd42623c6195b2a98966f7929bf0fd4c1377963a44a316f1e |
| record sha256 | 690606ccaf7493027ce81d725bfe7f02e75c8b400729847a196c6cb4a6ea5917 |
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