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The FSA’s Director of Markets set out, in a speech on 22 November 2012, a “reminder of how we got to EMIR and the outcomes we hope it will achieve…some of the practical issues firms are facing and the key challenges in implementing this regulation”.
See also: Useful EMIR links – FSA
Following the European Parliament’s approval of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation on 29 March 2012, the Council of the EU adopted the EMIR on 4 July 2012. The final text of the EMIR is here.
The EMIR, more formally the “Regulation on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories”, will apply from the end of 2012. The European Securities and Markets Authority now has to prepare the technical standards required to support the EMIR. Steven Maijoor (the Chair of ESMA) stated in this speech on 4 July 2012 that it plans to submit those technical standards to the European Commission on 30 September 2012. ESMA’s 25 June 2012 consultation on those technical standards is here.
UPDATE 27 July 2012: The text of the EMIR has been published in the Official Journal and so will come into force in 20 days time. For key dates on its implementation thereafter, see this Herbert Smith note.
UPDATE 10 August 2012: ESMA has published the responses received to its June 2012 technical standards consultation.
See also: What is the EMIR?
European Market Infrastructure Regulation still to be finally approved by the Council
Final agreement still needed and then the Regulation will come into force
UPDATE 30 March 2012: The European Parliament has now formally adopted the text of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation – see this post, which also summarises when EMIR will be implemented.
The European Market Infrastructure Regulation on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories
One of the effects of the early stages of the financial crisis was to highlight the opaque nature of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market; a market where there are few reporting requirements and little centralised clearing of contracts.
The G20 agreed in September 2009 that all standardised OTC derivative contracts should be traded on exchanges or on electronic trading platforms and cleared through central counterparties, that OTC derivative contracts should be reported to trade repositories and that non-centrally cleared contracts should be subject to higher capital requirements.
In response, the European Commission published its final proposal for a European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) on 15 September 2010. EMIR introduces:
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Proposal for a Regulation on improving securities settlement in the European Union and on central securities depositories
European Securities and Markets Authority consultation on detailed rules for the EMIR
Key work streams of the European Securities and Markets Authority
ESMA, the lead European securities regulator, has set out its work programme for 2012. Contained with that programme are ESMA’s seven priorities for this year:
Contained within the work programme is ESMA’s summary of its mission:
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Executive Director of ESMA sets out the regulator’s focus of work
