ESMA has published a Briefing on the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) to raise industry awareness and facilitate compliance with the LEI requirements under MiFID II ahead of 3 January 2018.
MiFID II / MiFIR: Final report on the derivatives trading obligation
ESMA has published a final report on its draft Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS) on the trading obligation for derivatives under MiFIR. ESMA’s draft RTS provides the implementing details for on-venue trading of interest rate swaps (IRS) and credit default swaps (CDS).
MiFIR’s trading obligation is closely linked to the clearing obligation under EMIR and will move over-the-counter (OTC) trading in liquid derivatives onto organised venues. Once a class of derivatives needs to be centrally cleared under EMIR, ESMA must determine whether these derivatives, or a subset of them, should be mandatorily traded on-venue on a regulated market (RM), multilateral trading facility (MTF), organised trading facility (OTF) or an equivalent third-country trading venue.
ESMA has decided to make the following fixed-to-float IRS and CDS indices (which are deemed sufficiently liquid) subject to on-venue trading:
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fixed-to-float interest rate swaps denominated in EUR;
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fixed-to-float interest rate swaps denominated in USD;
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fixed-to-float interest rate swaps denominated in GBP; and
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index CDS – iTraxx Europe Main and iTraxx Europe Crossover.
ESMA’s draft RTS have been submitted to the European Commission for its endorsement and 3 January 2018 is the envisaged date of application.
Read the draft RTS »
OTC Derivatives: FSB consultation
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is consulting on governance arrangements for the unique product identifier (UPI) which is a key harmonised identifier aimed at facilitating aggregation of transaction reports about OTC derivatives markets.
Proposals include: UPI service providers; cost recovery and fees.
Comments may be made until 17 November 2017.
Read the consultation »
Benchmarks: cessation of or change to existing benchmarks
The European Commission has adopted a delegated regulation under the Benchmarks Regulation on cessation of, or changes to, existing benchmarks which do not meet the requirements under this Regulation. It sets out a non-exhaustive list of conditions to help competent authorities to assess whether a change of the provider of an index could result in a force majeure event, or frustrate or otherwise breach contractual terms or rules of a fund or financial instrument.
If neither the Council of the EU nor the European Parliament object, the delegated regulation will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ).
Read the delegated regulation »
Dechert's World Passport recognised by Financial Times
2017 European Innovative Lawyers Report
Dechert has been recognised by the Financial Times in the 2017 "European Innovative Lawyers" Report for World Passport, the firm's service that offers investment firms a global registration, marketing and compliance solution for UCITS and AIFs.
Read the press release »
Fund distribution resources
Dechert maintains two services designed to assist managers with global fund distribution and registration.
World Compass - A global web-based service offering investment firms 24/7 access to detailed information on fund marketing, separate accounts and beneficial ownership reporting
World Passport - An outsourced solution for fund registration globally for both UCITS and AIFs
