Recent Developments On The European Market Infrastructures Regulation 648/12 (EMIR)

On June 4th 2013, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") issued a "Questions and Answers" document ("QAD") on the implementation of EMIR. The purpose of the QAD is to promote common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of EMIR. It aims to answer questions asked by the general public, market participants and competent authorities in respect to the practical impact of EMIR. The QAD develops several questions that arose within the frame of EMIR, such as:

EMIR classification of clients; Clarification on deadlines for confirmation of transactions; Hedging exemptions; and Client segregation. The QAD is a practical convergence tool used to promote common supervisory approaches and practices, so that the national financial supervisory authorities work on a harmonised basis.

The QAD may also be used by ESMA in order to identify outstanding issues in the context of EMIR and that could then be fixed by new ESMA guidelines.

On the same date, ESMA also issued a report (the "Report") on the guidelines and recommendations ("Guidelines") regarding written agreements between members of central counterparties ("CCP") colleges. The Guidelines have been drafted in order to clarify the content of written agreements between CCP colleges; such agreements must be drafted by national competent authorities ("NCA") when they receive an application for authorisation from a CCP.

The Report discusses the rationale for issuing the Guidelines and...