Category: EU Commission
Frontloading on the Backburner?
On 8 May 2014, ESMA wrote a letter to the EU Commission, seeking its views on a possible solution to the thorny issue of frontloading. The frontloading requirement is triggered by the authorisation of a CCP under EMIR (of which there are now four). If ESMA concludes that any of the products offered by that […]
Spotting a Spot FX Contract
On 11 April 2014, the EU Commission published a consultation document requesting views on what constitutes an FX “financial instrument” for the purposes of MiFID[1] and what does not, particularly in the context of spot FX. The consultation follows on from the letter
MiFIR is here- the long wait is over
The trilogue participants have finally handed over compromise text of MiFID II/MiFIR II for legislative drafting. A scant two years behind schedule, the negotiations have taken four years to reach this point. Though very few people have read the 464 page document in sufficient detail to be certain, it is clear that the compromise is […]
Repo Comes Under the Microscope
Introduction On 29 January 2014, the EU Commission published a legislative proposal for a regulation on reporting and transparency of securities financing transactions[1] (SFTs) and associated FAQ document. The EU Commission is concerned that efforts to reform the structure of EU banks (in the form of the Liikanen proposals) could drive a substantial subset of […]
Liikanen Out of the Blocks
Introduction On 29 January 2014, the EU Commission published a legislative proposal and accompanying press release regarding a regulation on structural reform of the EU banking sector. Recognising that the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive will be unable to address the issue of “too-big-to-fail” in its entirety, and in furtherance of the political agenda to […]
FTT- Govts. realise possibility of bullet in foot
Documents received by Reuters late last week point to the possibility that some derivatives may be exempted from the controversial and consequential FTT, the 11 eurozone nation[1] “Tobin” tax.
Liikanen Proposal by End of January?
On 17 January 2014, the EU Commission published a press release confirming that it will make a proposal “in coming weeks” for the reform of the structure of banking in the EU. The proposal will be based on the findings of Liikanen Report, published in October 2012, and will apparently will be “the final piece […]
MiFiD II: out of the starting-gate
A surprising outbreak of harmony has seen the European trilogue partners reaching agreement on MifiD II. The EC, EU and the Parliament finally concluded over three years of negotiation late Tuesday evening, producing a definitive outline version of the fundamental reform legislation. The post-2008 sequel to MiFiD/MiFiR is intended to update regulations, dealing with recent […]
EU Shies Away From Liikanen?
The FT is reporting this morning that the latest draft of the Liikanen proposals, which implement bank structural reform within the EU, will be significantly watered down. According to the article, separation will no longer be mandatory and will be less restrictive than previously thought. Wider discretion is also to be given to national competent […]
EBA Publishes Draft ITS on Hypothetical CCP Capital
On 19 December 2013, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published final draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on the hypothetical capital of a central counterparty under Articles 50a, 50c and 89(5a) of EMIR, as amended by Article 520 of the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). The ITS have been submitted to the EU Commission for approval and […]