On 23 November 2020, the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published a third “final” version of its draft RTS making various amendments to EMIR margining requirements. The draft (re)introduces the following amendments: Levelling the international playing field: An extension of a further three years for the “temporary” exemption from margining requirements for single-stock […]

ESMA has this morning released a public statement confirming that the EU Derivatives Trading Obligation (DTO) will continue to apply after Brexit transition. The DTO under Article 28 of MiFIR requires firms to transact certain derivatives (essentially the most liquid, standardised contracts) on an EU trading venue, or that of a third country already judged […]

Earlier this week, the Chief Executive of the FCA, Andrew Bailey provided us with a recent update about the current state of affairs regarding Brexit. As is fast becoming the norm in Bailey’s Brexit updates, he opened his speech with the progress that has been made thus far; the Temporary Transitional Power regime; the signing […]

A question that has been ignored, until very recently, is how firms will deal with cross-border derivative contracts when the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. Leaving the single market without either EEA membership or a trade agreement covering financial services will result in complications for existing derivative contracts. With approximately £26 trillion of […]

The overwhelming majority of ISDA Master Agreements entered into by counterparties located in the EU (European Union)/EEA (European Economic Area) are governed by English law and they submit to the jurisdiction of the English Courts. Both for netting and collateral arrangements, English law has had no meaningful rival since the publication of the first ISDA […]

On 20 March 2018, the European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) handed down four judgments in response to requests for preliminary rulings[1] on the interpretation under European law of the so-called ne bis in idem principle, i.e. the right not to be tried or punished twice for the same offence, also known as double jeopardy. […]

This blog aims to provide a brief overview of the potential impact of Brexit with regard to the UK’s civil judicial cooperation with the other European Union Member States, in particular with respect to jurisdiction, recognition, enforcement and choice of law, with some added commentary on the impact on derivatives transactions. In brief, the UK’s […]

The European Commission has published a proposal for significant changes to the Prudential Regime for EU investment firms, amending the framework set out in the capital requirements directive and regulation (CRD IV/CRR) and in MiFID2/MiFIR. The proposal will impact the Prudential Requirements on individual firms and the categories to which they belong. A full review […]

Although we are reluctant to contribute to the now well-established industry of Brexit crystal ball-gazing, there are a number of documentation issues in which there is at least enough certainty to formulate the questions; definitive answers will attend the daily twists and turns of politics. These issues include: the future status of trade lifecycle events, […]