Author: Simon Lafrance
FICC: no one reg to rule them all, but a Board?
On 10 June 2015, the Fair and Effective Markets Review (“FEMR”) published its Final Report on the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (“FICC”) markets. The Review was launched in June 2014 to cover the following areas: · Trading practices · Scope of regulation · Impact of recent and forthcoming regulation · Supervision As an interim […]
12th EMIR Q&A update
On 31 March 2015, ESMA published its 12th Q&A on EMIR implementation. Since the previous Q&A dated 24 October 2014, ESMA provided further clarification on the following issues: OTC Questions: Intragroup transactions Status of sovereign funds Pension Scheme exemption from the clearing obligation Frontloading requirement and intragroup transactions exemption Clearing obligation in relation with trade novations […]
Updated list of EMIR CCPs
On 27 March 2015, ESMA updated its list of CCPs authorised under EMIR. The list now reflects the extension of LCH.Clearnet’s authorisation to include derivative contracts relating to inflation rates or other economic variables, the execution of which takes place on a regulated market. The Public Register was updated on the same day and indicates […]
The ISDA 2014 Collateral Agreement Negative Interest Protocol is so 2015
The ISDA 2014 Collateral Agreement Negative Interest Protocol (the “Protocol”) has received renewed attention recently, with ISDA hosting a Market Education Webinar to discuss the structure and content of the Protocol on 11 March 2015, followed by the publication of a Statement on Negative Interest Rates on 12 March 2015 and a Market Guidance concerning Interest […]
FCA Legislation Update (PDU 20)
On 9 March 2015, the FCA published its policy development update for February 2015 (PDU 20) which details forthcoming FCA publications relating to a number of areas, as detailed below: Business Standards Initiative Current Expected Publication Date Previous Expected Publication Date (PDU 19) Benchmarks – PS to CP14/28 Q1 2015 Q1 2015 Review of the client […]
EU chasing its tail with first clearing RTS
On 29 January 2015, ESMA released its formal opinion on the draft RTS covering the clearing obligation of interest rate swaps. This is the latest exchange in a ping pong game between ESMA and the European Commission. On 1 October 2014, ESMA originally submitted the draft RTS to the European Commission, but on 18 December […]
Update: Margin rules delay is in the air
The industry’s call for a delay in the margin rules, expected to apply from 1 December 2015, may finally receive a positive response from the regulators[1]. These rules on risk-management of uncleared derivatives will impose collection of Initial Margin (IM) and Variation Margin (VM). The global phase-in timeline was set by the Basel Committee on […]
ISDA on CCPs: recovery before resolution
On 26 January 2015, ISDA published a position paper on CCP Default Management, Recovery and Continuity: A Proposed Recovery Framework. The proposed framework reiterates the preference for recovery over resolution. Typically, a recovery is led by the CCP itself, while a resolution must be orchestrated by the relevant resolution authority. If the CCP successfully handles its […]
First EU flavoured Greek CCP
On 22 January 2015, Athens Exchange Clearing House (AthexClear) has been authorised as the first Greek CCP under EMIR. The authorisation covers MiFID financial instruments, namely Securities – Equity and Debt (RM[1]) – and Derivatives – Equity and Currencies (RM). In addition, AthexClear`s authorisation includes Securities Lending – Equity and Debt (OTC) clearing services. The list of […]
Margin rules delay is in the air
The industry’s call for a delay in the margin rules, expected to apply from 1 December 2015, may finally receive a positive response from the regulators[1]. These rules on risk-management of uncleared derivatives will impose collection of Initial Margin (IM) and Variation Margin (VM). The global phase-in timeline was set by the Basel Committee on […]