The FCA yesterday published the minutes of its November 2015 MiFID II implementation roundtable. Unsurprisingly, the first questions concerned possible delay to the application date and the consequences upon other MiFID II dates and related legislation. The FCA believes any change of application date is not linked to Level 2 completion, that the MAR timeline […]

ESMA has issued a Final Report containing guidelines on which debt instruments and structured deposits will be considered “non-complex” under MiFID II. Article 25(4) allows firms to transact non-complex on behalf of customers without applying the Article 25(3) appropriateness test. The report follows the 24 March 2015 consultation paper, includes an analysis of its results […]

Today marks the publication of the EMIR IRS Clearing RTS in the Official Journal (OJ) of the EU, crystallising the exact timeline for the obligation. The clearing of interest rate swaps will become mandatory according to the following schedule: Category 1- 21 June 2016 Category 2 – 21 December 2016 Category 3 – 21 June […]

Those despairing of European regulatory timelines may take small comfort in today’s Council announcement that the Single Resolution Fund (SRF) will enter into force as expected on 1 January 2016. The SRF is a vital element in the wider Single Resolution Mechanism, creating a Europe-wide backstop fund that may be accessed following a failing institution’s […]

On 27 November 2015, the EU Council published a revised text of the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR).  This follows its publication on 5 November 2015 of the ‘final’ SFTR – as subsequently adopted by the EU Council on 16 November 2015. Fortunately, all of the changes in the revised text – of which there […]

In a meeting held 23 November 2015, the European Banking Committee of the European Commission reached a consensus on a fourth extension of the QCCP deadline. The transitional period relates to own funds requirements for exposures to central counterparties under CRR, where CCPs established in a third country not yet recognised under EMIR are nonetheless […]

The EP has today published an official statement accepting a one year delay of MiFID II’s entry into force. Penned by Markus Ferber, the Parliament’s Rapporteur for MifiD II and on behalf of its MiFID II negotiation team, the short statement proffers a conditional acceptance of delay: “The European Parliament’s negotiation team has informed the […]

On 25 November 2015, the European Commission published a communiqué welcoming the agreement reached with the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the draft benchmark regulation. By bringing the regulation a step closer to a vote by the European Parliament, the uptick might revive concerns expressed by those who suggested the text went […]

The PRA has today issued a short-term waiver in respect of phase 2 liabilities under its transposition of Article 55 BRRD. Its rules require firms to amend contracts with 3rd country counterparties, to include a term that subordinates liabilities to the Bank’s resolution authority, a contractual recognition of bail-in. The requirement was imposed via a […]