(1) The Market Transparency Unit shall continuously monitor electricity and natural gas wholesale trading, irrespective of whether it is aimed at physical or financial settlement, in order to detect irregularities in pricing that might be due to abuse of market dominance, inside information or market manipulation. For this purpose, the Market Transparency Unit shall also monitor the production of natural gas and the generation of electricity, the use of power plants and the marketing of electricity and natural gas by producers, as well as the marketing of electricity and natural gas as balancing services. The Market Transparency Unit may take into account interdependencies between the wholesale markets for electricity and natural gas on the one hand and the emissions trading system on the other.
(2) As a national market monitoring body pursuant to Article 7(2) subpara. 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency (OJ L 326 of 8 December 2011, p. 1), the Market Transparency Unit shall monitor, together with the Bundesnetzagentur, electricity and natural gas wholesale trading. In this context, it shall cooperate with the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators pursuant to Article 7(2) and Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011.
(3) The Market Transparency Unit shall collect and compile the data and information it needs for the purpose of fulfilling its tasks. In this context, it shall take account of the reporting obligations of the persons required to report to the authorities and supervisory entities mentioned in Section 47i and of the reporting obligations to be laid down by the European Commission in accordance with Article 8(2) and (6) of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011. Where possible, existing sources and reporting systems shall be used for data collection.
(4) The Bundesnetzagentur may instruct the Market Transparency Unit to collect and analyse data to the extent necessary for the purpose of fulfilling its tasks under Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011.
(5) Prior to issuing determinations pursuant to Section 47g in conjunction with the statutory instrument to be issued pursuant to Section 47f, the Market Transparency Unit shall give the authorities, stakeholders and market participants concerned the opportunity to comment within a specified period. In preparation of these consultations, the Market Transparency Unit shall, where necessary, prepare and amend a detailed list of all data and categories of data that must continuously be reported to it by the persons and undertakings subject to the reporting obligation as specified in Section 47e(1) pursuant to Sections 47e and 47g and based on the statutory instrument to be issued in accordance with Section 47f, including the point in time when the data must be transferred, the data format and the transfer channels to be used, as well as alternative reporting channels. The Market Transparency Unit shall not be bound by the comments.
(6) The Market Transparency Unit shall continuously analyse the data and information received by it, in particular to determine whether there are any indications of a violation of Sections 1, 19, 20 or 29 of this Act, Article 101 or Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the German Securities Trading Act [Wertpapierhandelsgesetz], the German Stock Exchange Act [Börsengesetz] or the prohibitions under Articles 3 and 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011.
(7) If there is any indication that a natural or legal person is in violation of any of the legal provisions referred to in subsection (6), the Market Transparency Unit shall immediately inform the competent authorities and refer the issue to them. In the case of a suspected violation of Sections 1, 19, 20 and 29 of this Act or of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Market Transparency Unit shall inform the competent decision division of the Bundeskartellamt. If more than one authority is potentially competent to conduct investigations, the Market Transparency Unit shall inform each of these authorities of the suspected violation and of the other authorities that have been informed. The Market Transparency Unit shall transfer all information and data required or requested by these authorities to them without undue delay in accordance with Section 47i.
(8) Subsections (1) to (3) may also apply to production and marketing abroad as well as to trading activities performed abroad, to the extent that these affect the pricing of electricity and natural gas within the area of application of this Act.