Financial Derivatives: Commission adopts revised rules for reporting to trade repositories under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation ‘EMIR’

In the wake of the financial crisis, G20 leaders agreed on rules to make the financial system safer. As part of this, the EU introduced legislation for the regulation of derivatives markets in 2012, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). To help with the monitoring of the build-up of systemic risk, EMIR required all derivatives transactions to be reported to trade repositories. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was mandated to develop technical standards setting out the details and type of such reporting, including format and timeline for submission. As part of the ongoing work to improve the quality and efficiency of reporting, the Commission has today adopted changes to the standards following a proposal by ESMA. The Delegated and implementing Regulation to put into place the revised standards will be subject to an objection period by the European Parliament and the Council, after which they will be published in the Official Journal. The implementation of the rules will begin nine months after the entry into force of the Regulation, with the exception of the extension of the deadline for the reporting of historic trades, which will become applicable immediately upon publication of the implementing regulation.