multilateral trading facility multilateral trading facility(MTF) In the EU, any platform for financial trading that is not a regulated exchange run by a recognized market operator. MTFs were first defined and regulated by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, which became effective in late 2007. In most cases these platforms are fully electronic and buyers and sellers are often matched to each other anonymously. An MTF is thus the European equivalent of a US alternative trading system (ATS). |