The only recently-acknowledged elephant of EU-US CCP lack of equivalence is one step closer to leaving the room. The European Commission has today granted the CFTC status as an equivalent regulatory regime for CCPs. The determination will be effected by a legally-binding implementing act in accordance with Article 25(6) EMIR. The decision follows the 10 […]

The EU and the US have today released a joint statement outlining a common approach to mutual recognition of each other’s CCPs. ESMA will propose an equivalence decision in respect of US CCPs, the CFTC will propose a “determination of comparability” in respect of EU CCPs- each decision will conclude at the same time that […]

SIFMA has published a letter to the Prudential Regulators confirming a market-wide move to explicitly classify variation margin (VM) as settlement rather than collateral. The exercise has substantial implications for the amount of regulatory capital that must be held against cleared OTC derivatives. The effect is to radically reduce the potential future exposure (PFE) element […]

ESMA has today published a consultation paper seeking to cut through the Gordian knot of EU-US CCP equivalence. On Friday 11 December 2015, the Commission approved the fourth extension of the QCCP deadline to 15 June 2016. The major bone of contention between regulators of the world’s two largest derivatives trading blocs has been the […]

On 13 August 2015, ESMA published the Emir Review Report no.3 – Review on the segregation on portability requirements, presenting an overview of the issues encountered during EMIR implementation. The Review covered the legal and regulatory, operational, technical and financial aspects of segregation and portability, suggesting clarifications and more granular requirements on a number of […]

The EC has announced its adoption of an implementing act to extend the transitional period for the application of the CRR to CCPs by a further six months. The Capital Requirements Regulation mandates levels of capital that must be held by EU banking groups against their exposure to central counterparties. The EC had already extended […]

In a keenly-awaited judgement, the European Court of Justice has ruled that the ECB does not have authority under EU law to oversee CCPs that clear euro-denominated trades. The General Court held that: “The ECB lacks the competence necessary to regulate the activity of securities clearing systems as its competence is limited to payment systems […]

On 26 January 2015, ISDA published a position paper on CCP Default Management, Recovery and Continuity: A Proposed Recovery Framework. The proposed framework reiterates the preference for recovery over resolution. Typically, a recovery is led by the CCP itself, while a resolution must be orchestrated by the relevant resolution authority. If the CCP successfully handles its […]

On 22 January 2015, Athens Exchange Clearing House (AthexClear) has been authorised as the first Greek CCP under EMIR. The authorisation covers MiFID financial instruments, namely Securities – Equity and Debt (RM[1]) – and Derivatives – Equity and Currencies (RM). In addition, AthexClear`s authorisation includes Securities Lending – Equity and Debt (OTC) clearing services. The list of […]