Europe's capital markets are getting a new foundation.

The 28-nation European Union's top markets regulator yesterdaymade public more than 800 pages of proposed rules that covereverything from high-frequency trading curbs to transparencyrequirements for bond markets and position limits for commodityderivatives, with the aim of boosting confidence in the financialsystem.

releaThe publication marks “an important step in the biggestoverhaul of financial markets regulation in the EU for a decade,”Steven Maijoor, chairman of the Paris-based European Securities andMarkets Authority (ESMA), said in an e-mailed statement.

The EU's bid to revamp its market legislation, known as theMarkets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID, is thecenterpiece of its work to implement agreements reached by theGroup of 20 nations in the wake of the turmoil that followed the2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Members of theEuropean Parliament and national governments reached a deal on theplans in January.

The accord ended more than two years of haggling over proposalsfrom Michel Barnier, the EU's financial-services chief. It's nowESMA's responsibility to define terms and flesh out detailed rulesfor national authorities to implement.

Barnier has said that other elements of the plans curbactivities of commodity derivative speculators and set out “one ofthe strictest set of regulations for high-frequency trading in theworld.”

The legislation is set to take effect in 2016, with longertimeframes for some measures.

ESMA gave traders, banks, and exchanges an Aug. 1 deadline torespond to the package, known as MiFID II.

“We appreciate the magnitude of this exercise for stakeholders,”Maijoor said. “We strongly encourage all those affected by thesereforms to provide their views to ensure that we take them intoaccount in our final proposals.”

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