Category: EU Parliament
It’s Official
17 February 2021. Delegated Regulations further amending the EMIR Margin RTS and amending the three Clearing Obligation RTS have today been published in the OJ. They will both enter into force on the following day- 18 February 2021. Amendments to the Margin RTS Extension of equity options derogation until 4 Jan 2024 Extension of intragroup […]
Last minute RTS to be rushed through
The just in time legislative supply chain seems to be still working in the EU. On 21 December, the Commission adopted the two Delegated Regulations amending EMIR Regulatory Technical Standards. The EC have published the RTS today: The Draft Revised Margin RTS (Margin RTS) The Draft Revised Clearing Obligation RTS (Clearing RTS) A quick refresh […]
Commission to be granted rate-replacement powers
On 30 November 2020, the EU Parliament and Council reached agreement on Commission-proposed amendments to the BMR. In anticipation of LIBOR’s end’ 2021 demise, the amendments give the Commission to power to propose replacement for the benchmark categories: “critical” benchmarks, which influence financial instruments and contracts with an average value of at least €500 billion […]
Third (final) ESA report- brief Brexit novation window
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 […]
EC endorse CSDR delay
On 23 October, the European Commission approved ESMA’s amended RTS, delaying the CSDR’s controversial settlement discipline regime until 1 February 2022. The amended RTS can be found here. Having been rubber-stamped by the Commission the RTS now enter the mandated three month period, pending non-objection by the Parliament and the Council. Despite adding to an […]
EU finally confirms intent to IM mitigate
In the Regulatory equivalent of a pair of socks- necessary, entirely expected, but still welcome; the ESAs have today delivered an early Christmas present to Heads of Compliance in a draft Revised RTS echoing the July 2019 BCBS/IOSCO IM mitigation. Initial Margin A revised article 36(1) instantiates the BCBS/IOSCO recommended bifurcation into two remaining IM […]
Agreement reached over EMIR Refit
Hot on the heels of ESMA’s 31 January 2019 ‘blind eye’ statement, on 5 February 2019, the EU Council issued a press release confirming it had reached agreement with the EU Parliament on certain aspects of the EMIR REFIT programme. Broadly, the changes are that: A new category of “small financial counterparty” will be created. […]
BRRD 2 “improvements”
Risk magazine reports that the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU[1] has suggested a reduction in the proposed “BRRD 2” pre-resolution stay period to two days, along with a recommendation that derivatives be included within the power’s scope. The Commission’s November 2017 proposal called for a pre-resolution power of moratorium, enabling national authorities to […]
EU Banks- Too Big to fails, Too Big to Save- now Too Big To Separate
The European Commission has quietly buried its TBTF ringfence proposal. At least to the financial community, the contents of Tuesday’s publication of the Commission Work Programme for 2018 were more notable for what they omitted. Under the aspirational subtitle “A Deeper and Fairer Economic and Monetary Union”, Annex III of the Programme contains nine financial […]
EP adopts non-cleared margin rules- market quietly panics
As previewed by its own ECON committee, the European Parliament yesterday adopted the “final” draft of the long-awaited non-cleared margin rules under EMIR. The uncharacteristic fast-tracking has created the ironic situation in which market participants are now lobbying the Council to delay their adoption of the rules in order to avoid entry into application during […]