Revocation of retained EU law Transitional amendments Amendments to the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) 4. Removing restrictions on midpoint crossing for trades
The tick size regime sets minimum increments ("ticks") by which prices for equity and equity-like instruments can change and limits the ability of trading venues and systematic internalisers to cross at the midpoint (i.e., halfway between the buying and selling prices).
	A harmonised tick size regime was introduced under the MiFID II framework to reduce the ever-decreasing increments in price seen on different trading venues. Prior to the introduction of the tick size regime under the MiFID II framework venues competed against each other with smaller and smaller price spreads to the detriment of the price formation process.
	The tick size regime was originally limited to trading venues but was extended to systematic internalisers in 2020 in an attempt to create a fair balance between systematic internalisers and trading venues. It currently prohibits systematic internalisers from crossing orders at the midpoint except for orders that are large in scale (LIS) 3 .
	The government supports the tick size regime but believes that the extension of the regime to systematic internalisers does not account for the difference between systematic internalisers and trading venues, as systematic internalisers take on counterparty risk. Therefore, limiting systematic internalisers’ ability to cross at the midpoint does not benefit price formation and can in some cases limit firms’ ability to offer the best prices to their clients.
	The Act removes the restriction on midpoint crossing for systematic internalisers for all trades. As midpoint crossing can offer price improvements for investors, this will allow systematic internalisers to achieve the best outcome for their clients.