EMIR – second Trade Reporting Delay Non-shock

Euroclear has confirmed the rumour of a delay in the enforcement of trade-reporting. In a statement which will surprise no-one, an ESMA spokesperson said that it will “most probably” (which we can read as “almost certainly”) delay the compliance deadline for ETD trade reporting by one year to January 2015.

As usual, the devil is in the details- the particular devil being that the details are currently unformulated. In the absence of central guidance, the market has no lucid reporting protocols or unified data taxonomy. A typical instance is the fog of uncertainty swirling around delegated trade reporting. The legislation allows multiple reporting sources, but it is unclear who is finally required to report, or who will be responsible for errors or omissions. Perhaps the best that can be said is that this lengthy delay at least shows some appreciation of the problems ahead.