Financial Services Regulatory Update – March 2022 Round Up

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021

On 29 March 2022, the Central Bank of Ireland (the “CBI”) issued a notice of intention (here) outlining its planned changes to the Consumer Protection Code 2012, the Minimum Competency Code 2017 and the Minimum Competency Regulations 2017 following the enactment of the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021 (the “Bill”). Our briefing here provides further detail on the CBI’s notice of intention.

The Bill will require an authorisation as a retail credit firm or credit servicing firm for the provision of a broader category of ‘credit’ (including buy-now-pay-later products), and hire-purchase and consumer-hire agreements.  Our briefing here provides further detail on the Bill.

Consumer Credit (Amendment) Bill 2022

On 7 March 2022, the Consumer Credit (Amendment) Bill 2022 was initiated before Dáil Éireann (here).  The objective of this Bill is to restrict the total cost of credit on moneylending loans. The Bill proposes introducing a cap on the interest rate a moneylender can charge on a loan, allowing for that rate to be adjusted in future by Ministerial Order, and prohibits moneylenders from charging for home collection services.

The Bill also contains measures intended to modernise and streamline the moneylending sector, including:

• allowing repayment books to be maintained online;
• allowing licenses to be issued for periods of five years at a time;
• removing the requirement for moneylenders to register for a particular District Court area; and
• changing the term ‘licensed moneylender’ to ‘High Cost Credit Provider’ to differentiate between licensed and unlicensed moneylenders.

CBI Financial Regulation Priorities for 2022

On 11 March 2022, the Director General (Financial Conduct) at the CBI, Ms. Derville Rowland, gave an overview of the CBI’s financial regulation priorities for 2022 (here). Ms. Rowland highlighted the CBI’s key priorities, including:

• the CBI will continue to operate a forward-looking approach to the authorisation of firms, in line with European regulatory requirements; and
• in the banking sector, the CBI will aim to ensure that customers are protected and treated fairly, in line with supervisory requirements.

In addition to the above, the CBI will conduct a review of the Consumer Protection Code to ensure it is suitably robust to address emerging trends and risks across the rapidly changing financial services landscape. At European level, the CBI will focus on advancing capital markets union, progressing the AIFMD Review, and reshaping the European Commission’s AML/CFT Package and the new single AML authority.

CBI Consumer Protection Outlook Report 2022

On 14 March 2022, the CBI published its consumer protection outlook report (here). This report details five key cross sectorial risks facing consumers of financial service and outlines CBI’s expectation of firms to mitigate those risks, including expecting: 

• firms to put in place robust product governance and oversight arrangements covering the design, sale and delivery of the product;
• firms to provide clear information in a timely manner to consumers, disclosing the key information upfront;
• firms to have sufficient operational resilience to manage change without creating risks to consumers; and
• firms to have well-defined and comprehensive information technology and cybersecurity risk management frameworks, supported by sufficient resources to achieve resilience and protect the interests of consumers.

CBI warning on investing in crypto-assets

On 22 March 2022, the CBI issued a warning to consumers on investing in crypto-assets as part of a European-wide campaign conducted by supervisory authorities (here). The CBI also issued a ‘plain-English’ explainer for consumers on crypto-currencies (here).

The CBI emphasised that crypto assets are ‘highly risky and speculative’ and noted they may not be suitable for retail customers. The CBI also drew attention to the need for consumers to be alert to the risks of misleading advertisements, particularly on social media, where influencers are being paid to advertise crypto assets.

Fitness and Probity

On 1 March 2022, the CBI reprimanded and fined a retail intermediary that operates in the commercial and retail insurance market in respect of three breaches of fitness and probity obligations under the Central Bank Reform Act 2010 here. In this case, the CBI found that the firm in question failed to obtain the CBI’s prior approval before appointing three individuals to pre-approval controlled function (“PCF”) roles.

The CBI’s Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering, Seána Cunningham, commenting on the case stated “As well as acting as a deterrent to this firm, this enforcement action serves as a reminder to all regulated firms, in all sectors and regardless of size, of the importance which the Central Bank attaches to F&P compliance. We are committed to following through to hold firms accountable for F&P failures and to raising compliance standards in this critical protection for customers of regulated firms”.

Restrictive Measures in respect of Conflict with Ukraine

Our earlier briefing here provided detail on restrictive measures targeting Russia in respect of the conflict in Ukraine. On 15 March 2022, the European Council issued a press release (here) agreeing a fourth set of restrictive measures targeting Russia. These measures included:

• a prohibition on all transactions with certain state-owned enterprises;
• a prohibition on the provision of any credit rating services to any Russian person or entity;
• expanding the list of persons connected to Russia’s defence and industrial base;
• a prohibition on new investments in the Russian energy sector;
• the introduction on further trade restrictions concerning iron and steel, as well as luxury goods; and
• sanctions on key oligarchs, lobbyist and propagandists.

Up-to-date information detailing sanctions targeting Russia and Belarus is available here and lists of persons and entities subject to sanction is available here.

FSPO publishes Overview of 2021 Complaints

On 28 March 2022, the FSPO published an Overview of Complaints for 2021 (here). This overview details the activities of the Office of the FSPO in 2021 and notes:

• 4,658 complaints were received by the FSPO in 2021;
• 5,010 were closed by the FSPO in 2021; and
• there was a value of more than €7m in complaint outcomes during 2021.

ESAs update supervisory statement on application of SFDR

On 24 March 2022, the EBA, ESMA and EIOPA (together, the “ESAs”) updated their joint supervisory statement on the application of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation¹ (“SFDR”) (here). This Statement replaces an earlier statement of the ESAs relating to the application of SFDR issued in February 2021 and is intended to provide guidance to financial market participants and financial advisers on the application of SFDR in the interim period prior to application of the final SFDR regulatory technical standards.

Our briefing here provides further detail.

Platform on Sustainable Finance - Recommendations on TSC for  remaining Environmental Objectives

On 30 March 2022, the Platform on Sustainable Finance (the “Platform”) published a report with recommendations on technical screening criteria (“TSC”) for the remaining environmental objectives of the Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/852) (here).

The six environmental objectives are (1) climate change mitigation, (2) climate change adaptation, (3) the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, (4) the transition to a circular economy, (5) pollution prevention and control and (6) the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem.

The report sets out draft criteria for objectives (3) to (6), recommendations to improve the design of the Taxonomy and the TSC and, in a technical annex, TSC for economic activities contributing to all six environmental objectives of the Taxonomy Regulation and the rationale for those criteria.

A delegated act covering (mainly) the remaining environmental objectives (3)-(6) (as well as some additional criteria for the environmental objectives (1)-(2)) will be adopted following the recommendations of the Platform.

Platform on Sustainable Finance - Report on environmental transition taxonomy

On 29 March 2022, the Platform published its final report on taxonomy extension options supporting a sustainable transition under the Taxonomy Regulation (here).

Article 26 of the Taxonomy Regulation requires the European Commission to publish a report on the possible extension of the scope of the Taxonomy Regulation to other economic activities.

This final report recommends extending the taxonomy framework to classify activities according to a ‘traffic light’ system:

• RED: Unsustainable, significantly harmful performance requiring urgent, managed exit or decommissioning.
• AMBER: Intermediate performance. These activities could qualify for taxonomy-recognised investment as part of an intermediate transition plan under which they continue to improve to stay out of the category of significantly harmful performance.
• GREEN: Sustainable activities.
• Low environmental impact activities. These are activities that do not have a significant environmental impact and should not be regarded as either red, amber or green.

This report will now be considered by the Commission.

EBA Q&A – EMD2

On 18 March 2022, the EBA published new Q&As for the purposes of interpreting EMD2 (Directive 2009/11/EC). The new Q&As relate to whether fees can be charged in respect of the issuance of e-money (here), if certain pre-paid voucher arrangements  may be considered distribution of e-money (here) and whether certain sub-contracts could be entered into for the purposes of distributing e-money (here).

EBA Q&A – PSD2

On 18 March 2022, the EBA published new Q&As in respect of PSD2 (Directive 2015/2366/EU).  The first Q&A relates to whether a payment institution (“PI”) which provides a payment service of acquiring of payment transactions for its users can provide this service without holding payment accounts  (here). A second Q&A was also published in which a law firm asked on behalf of its clients whether certain services would be considered ‘money remittance’ for the purposes of PSD2 (here).

Prospectus Fees

On 25 March 2022, the Central Bank Act 1942 (Section 32E) Prospectus and Related Documents Fee Regulations 2022 were published in Iris Oifigiúil (here).  These Regulations, made by the Central Bank Commission, revoke and replace the Central Bank Act 1942 (Section 32E) Prospectus and Related Documents Approval Fee Regulations 2015. They set out the obligation on applicants for prospectus approval to pay a fee in advance of receipt of that approval. They also set out the obligation to a pay a fee in respect of certain documents that are filed with the Bank. The relevant fees are detailed in the Annex to the Regulations.

FSPO Levies

The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (“FSPO”) Act 2017 [Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Council] Financial Services Industry Levy Regulations 2022 came into operation on 4 March 2022 (here). These Regulations provide for each financial service provider to pay an annual levy in respect of the services provided by the FSPO to the financial services industry. The Schedule to the Regulations sets out further detail of the levy to be paid by each category of financial service provider.

ECB issues Decision on supervisory fees for 2021

On 30 March 2021, Decision 2022/514 of the ECB of 1 March 2022 was published in the Official Journal (here). This Decision sets out details of the supervisory fees to be paid by significantly supervised entities/groups and less significant supervised entities/groups for the period ending 2021.

ESMA fines trade repository for EMIR data breaches

On 24 March 2022, the ESMA fined trade repository REGIS-TR €186,000 for eight breaches of EMIR (here).

ESMA states that the trade repository negligently failed to provide direct and immediate access to regulators by generating incorrect reports, failing to provide reports within the specified time limits and omitting data in the reports due to wrong rejections. ESMA found that REGIS-TR committed three further breaches resulting in the provision of wrong and unreliable reports to regulators by failing to verify the correctness and completeness of the data received by the reporting parties.

ECB ‘Dear CEO’ Letter- Leveraged Transactions

On 30 March 2022, the ECB published a ‘Dear CEO’ letter (dated 28 March 2022) to significant institutions entitled ‘Leveraged transactions - supervisory expectations regarding the design and functioning of risk appetite frameworks and high levels of risk taking’ (here).

The ECB’s letter highlights that the ECB expects significant institutions to define robust risk appetite frameworks and reduce the origination of highly leveraged transactions in order to adhere to ECB supervisory guidance. The ECB notes that excessive risk-taking is of particular concern to the ECB when it is coupled with inadequate risk management and the ECB has identified leveraged finance as a key vulnerability of significant institutions that requires increased scrutiny and remedial actions going forward.

Annex 1 of the letter contains ECB observations and minimum expectations in respect of risk appetite framework (design and functioning). Annex 2 of the letter contains the ECB’s observations regarding the recognition and management of risks arising from leveraged transaction underwriting and syndication activities, as well as the ECB’s expectations in respect of same.

The ECB has indicated that a failure to remedy deficiencies will be addressed using all available supervisory tools, including, where relevant, increases in Pillar 2 requirements in the context of the annual SREP process. The ECB states that ‘Your institution’s management body should, in its supervisory function, discuss the contents of this letter’.

ECB Guide on the Securitisation Regulation

On 18 March 2022, the ECB published its ‘Guide on notification of securitisation transactions - Articles 6 to 8 of Securitisation Regulation’ (here).

This non-binding Guide sets out the notification practices that significant institutions acting as originators or sponsors of a securitisation transaction are advised to follow in order to provide the ECB with information needed for the supervision of compliance with Articles 6 to 8 of the Securitisation Regulation. The ECB recommends that significant institutions follow this Guide with respect to all securitisation transactions originated after 1 April 2022 (the ECB may, however, request information relating to securitisation transactions originated before 1 April 2022 on a case-by-case basis).

CBI response - Consultation on a Macroprudential Framework for the Banking Sector

On 16 March 2022, the CBI published its response to the European Commission’s targeted consultation on improving the EU’s macroprudential framework for the banking sector (here).

The CBI states that its comments are targeted at those aspects of the framework which the CBI views as most important and relevant in the context of achieving the objective of financial stability contributing to macroeconomic stability. More broadly, the CBI states that it supports efforts towards reducing complexity within the framework where possible. The CBI comments include:

• capital buffers - the CBI states that it would be particularly supportive of legislative amendments that more explicitly broaden the focus of the indicators around the countercyclical capital buffer (the “CCyB”) setting;
• other systemically important institution (“O-SII”) buffer – the CBI would support further work to consider a joined up framework that would provide a consistent approach to the assessment of systemic importance across both O-SII identification and buffer setting, potentially including the introduction of a floor methodology. The CBI notes that given the nature of Ireland’s banking sector, the EBA’s scoring methodology in its current form has some limitations;
• borrower-based measures (“BBMs”) – the CBI states that a key principle behind the development of any EU framework should be that it is flexible enough to incorporate existing national frameworks for BBMs; and
• the CBI states that a key priority for the future development of the macroprudential policy framework in Europe is designing and operationalising an effective macroprudential approach for the non-bank financial intermediation sector, including investment funds.

ECB Letter - Basel III reforms

On 30 March 2022, the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB wrote to the MEP Mr Billy Kelleher on the subject matter of  disparate mortgage interest rates across the European

Union and, amongst other comments, noted that “the European Banking Authority’s impact study suggests that the impact of the Basel III reforms, including the output floor, is expected to lower the minimum capital required from Irish banks, while minimum required capital is expected to increase on average for EU banks.” (here)

CBI CCYB Rate Announcement

On 24 March 2022, the CBI confirmed the countercyclical capital buffer rate on Irish exposures would be maintained at 0 per cent (here). The CBI notes that the current outlook is subject to considerable uncertainty and the implications of the conflict in Ukraine for macro-financial conditions and the impact of the associated economic sanctions and disruption to global trade will continue to be monitored closely.

ECB - Phasing out of Collateral Easing Measures

On 24 March 2022, the ECB announced it would gradually phase out the package of pandemic collateral easing measures in place since April 2020 in three steps between July 2022 and March 2024 (here).

Annual report for 2021 published by ECB

On 31 March 2022, the ECB published its annual report for 2021 (here) which considers, amongst other topics, banking supervision in 2021, authorisations, enforcement and sanction procedures and the organisational set-up of ECB Banking Supervision. This report also reviews the legal instruments adopted by the ECB in 2021 and identifies risks and supervisory priorities for 2022.

Sanction - Misreporting of Capital Needs

On 11 March 2022, the ECB announced it had imposed an administrative penalty of €3.755 million on Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat, Luxembourg after the bank miscalculated, and therefore misreported, its risk-weighted assets for exposures to banks (here).

Sanction – Transfer of Liquidity

On 11 March 2022, the ECB announced it had imposed an administrative penalty of €575,000 on Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd (Bank of Cyprus) after it transferred liquidity to its operating subsidiaries without seeking prior approval from the supervisor (here).

BRRD - ITS

On 4 March 2022, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/365 of 3 March 2022 setting out implementing technical standards (“ITS”) on procedures, standard forms and templates for reporting of resolution plans pursuant to Article 11(3) of Directive 2014/59/EU (the “BRRD”) was published in the OJ (here).  

IRB approach - RTS

On 18 March 2021, Delegated Regulation No (EU) 2022/439 of 20 October 2021 was published in the OJ (here). This Delegated Regulation supplements regulatory technical standards (“RTS”) to specify the assessment methodology competent authorities are to follow when assessing the compliance of credit institutions and investment firms with the requirements to use the Internal Ratings Based Approach.

ECB Supervision Procedures

On 4 March 2022, Decision (EU) 2022/368 (here) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union and entered into force on 24 March 2022. This Decision amends Decision (EU) 2015/2218 by establishing transitional measures (including procedural requirements for both the notification and the application for the prior approval of the ECB) in respect of the procedure to exclude staff members from the presumption of having a material impact on the risk profile of a supervised credit institution.

CRR - ITS

On 24 March 2022, the European Commission adopted an Implementing Regulation containing ITS detailing the main indices and recognised exchanges for determining when securities can be eligible as collateral under the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation (EU) 575/2013) (here).

The Implementing Regulation will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

ECB - SSM Options and Discretions Policies

On 28 March 2022, the ECB announced its finalised revisions to its harmonised policies for exercising options and discretions (“O and D”) in respect of banks in the single supervisory mechanism (the “SSM”) (here). European banking rules grant supervisors the authority to exercise more than 100 O and Ds when supervising banks. The ECB policies on O and D are intended to ensure consistent and transparent implementation of the rules applied to banks.

The package of finalised revisions to the O and D policies includes:

• an ECB Guideline (here) on the exercise of O and D available in EU law by national competent authorities (“NCAs”) in relation to less significant institutions;
• an ECB Recommendation (here) on common specifications for the exercise of O and D available in EU law by NCAs in relation to LSIs;
• An ECB Regulation (here) on the exercise of O and D available in EU law; and
• A consolidated version (here) of the ECB Guide on O and D available in EU law.

The ECB has also published a feedback statement in respect of its consultation on these revisions (here).

CBI Insurance Regulations

On 15 March 2022, the CBI published the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Insurance Requirements) Regulations 2022 (here) which will come into effect on 1 July 2022. The CBI also published a related Q&A (here) and feedback statement (here).

The new rules relate to:

• price walking ban - as of 1 July 2022, when a person renews their home or motor insurance for the second time or more, the insurer can no longer charge more than someone who is renewing for the first time, and has a similar risk profile and cost of service;
• review of pricing policies and processes - providers of motor and home insurance will be required to review their pricing policies and processes annually; and
• automatic renewal process - if a person’s home or motor insurance policy renews automatically, additional information will be provided that will be consistent across insurance providers.

CBI - Communication on Regulatory Flexibility

In April 2020, the CBI had communicated that it would allow a level of flexibility for regulated firms in certain specified areas due to the challenges faced by firms and market participants as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. On 7 March 2022, the CBI announced that it had updated this communication and removed measures whose terms had expired (here).

Data Reporting Service Providers

On 24 March 2022, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/466 supplementing MiFIR (Regulation (EU) 600/2014) was published in the OJ (here). This Delegated Regulation specifies criteria for data reporting services providers (“DRSPs”) to qualify as having a limited relevance for the internal market and thus be exempt from the supervision of ESMA in respect of approved publication arrangements (“APAs”) and approved reporting mechanisms (“ARMs”). This Delegated Regulation entered into force on 27 March 2022.

MiFID II - RTS

On 24 March 2022, the European Commission adopted Delegated Regulation supplementing the MiFID II Directive (Directive 2014/65/EU) with regard to RTS specifying the content of position management controls by trading venues (here).

The draft Delegated Regulation forms part of the post-COVID-19 MiFID II recovery package and aims to harmonise the implementation of the position management controls by trading venues, by specifying the content of position management controls and taking into account the characteristics of the trading venues concerned.

This Delegated Regulation shall now be considered by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. If neither object, it will be published in the OJ and enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication

MIFID II - ITS

On 24 March 2022, the European Commission adopted an Implementing Regulation amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1093 laying down ITS with regard to the format of commodity derivative position reports produced by investment firms and market operators (here).

This Delegated Regulation shall now be considered by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. If neither object, it will be published in the OJ and enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication

MiFID II – Remuneration Requirements

On 31 March 2022, ESMA published a final report on guidelines on certain aspects of the remuneration requirements under  the MiFID II Directive (Directive 2014/65/EU) (here).

These Guidelines are intended to enhance clarity and foster convergence in the implementation of certain aspects of the MiFID II remuneration requirements and are set out in Annex V to the report. Annex VI sets out a correlation table between the new Guidelines and the previous Guidelines. The Guidelines will apply from six months after the date of their publication on ESMA’s website in all official languages.

CBI Letter to Fund Service Providers in respect of Russian invasion of Ukraine

On 7 March 2022, the CBI issued a letter to fund service providers (“FSPs”) in respect of managing risk due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (here).

The CBI states that the contents of the letter are to be taken into account as FSPs respond to unfolding events. The letter focuses, in particular, on financial sanctions, valuation, liquidity, fund suspensions and engagement with the CBI. Our briefing here provides further detail.

CBI – Update of Website (Marketing Requirements for AIFs)

On 4 March 2022, the CBI updated the section of their website ‘Publication of national provisions governing marketing requirements for AIF’ which details the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions governing marketing requirements for alternative investment funds (“AIFs”) (here)

CBI - Outsourcing

On 24 March 2022, the CBI announced it fined and reprimanded BNY Mellon Fund Services (Ireland) DAC €10,780,000 for regulatory breaches relating to outsourcing (here).

According to the CBI statement, the fine and reprimand related to failures to comply with regulatory obligations in respect of outsourcing and reporting/notification requirements.

ESMA - National Rules governing Cross-Border Distribution of Investment Funds

On 28 March 2022, ESMA published updated information containing both hyperlinks and summaries of national rules governing marketing requirements relating to investment funds (here).

ESMA - Liquidity Risk in Corporate Debt/Real Estate Funds in the Investment Fund Sector

On 30 March 2022, ESMA published a press release ‘ESMA and NCAs find room for improvement in fund’s liquidity stress testing’ (here). In the press release, ESMA highlights the findings of a supervisory engagement with investment funds which ESMA carried out in conjunction with NCAs.

The exercise focused on liquidity risk in corporate debt and real estate funds. ESMA states the results indicate that in-scope funds do not pose any substantial risk for financial stability. In addition, ESMA notes that many NCAs reported that management companies were able to manage episodes of valuation uncertainty in March 2020 and that the NCAs have not identified any strong valuation issues for the funds included.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, ESMA states that the results highlight scope for improvement and continued monitoring, particularly in relation to liquidity stress testing (“LST”) and valuation of less liquid assets. ESMA notes that during 2022 it will facilitate discussions on these topics among NCAs on the application of the LST guidelines in UCITS and AIFs. ESMA notes it is also conducting a 2022 common supervisory action on the valuation of less liquid assets in UCITS and open-ended AIFs.

Selected Consultations, Discussion Papers, Speeches and Reports Published

Joint Trade Association -  ‘Joint Trade Association Letter regarding Implementation of the CSDR Settlement Discipline Regime’ (here)

EBA -  Draft Regulatory Technical Standards on requirements that an internal methodology or external sources used under the internal default risk model are to fulfil for estimating default probabilities and losses given default under Article 325bp(12) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (Capital Requirements Regulation) (here).

EBA - Developing a Framework for Sustainable Securitisation (here)

EBA – Report on Competent Authorities’ Approaches to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Supervision of Banks (Round 2 – 2020/21) (here).

CBI - Demographic Analysis 2021 Applications for Pre-Approval Controlled Function (PCF) roles within Regulated Firms (here)

CBI - IOSCO Retail Market Conduct Task Force Report: Consultation Report (here). Comments may be submitted on or before 23 May 2022.

European Commission – Webpage update on EU benchmark labels and ESG disclosures (here)

European Commission -  Recovery and Resilience Facility Annual Report (here)

European Commission -  Framework Laying Down Practical Arrangements to Implement EU-Japan Cooperation on Financial Regulation under Annex 8-A to the European Union Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (here)

ECB - Study on New Digital Payment Methods (here)

ECB – Opinion of 4 March 2022 on macroprudential measures (here)

ECB - Supervisory Assessment of Institutions’ Climate-related and Environmental Risks Disclosures (here)

ECON - Working Document on European Commission's Solvency II and IRRD proposals (here)

EIOPA -  2021 Insurance Stress Test Recommendations (here)

ESMA - February 2022 Newsletter (here)

ESMA -  Peer Review on Supervision of Crossborder Activities of Investment Firms (here)

ESMA -  MiFIR Review Proposal (Letter to European Parliament and Council) (here)

ESMA - Final Report (here) on the review of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/587 (RTS 1) (equity transparency) and final report (here) on the review of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/583 (RTS 2) (non-equity transparency)

ESMA - Final Report on Guidelines for the Transfer of Data between Trade Repositories under EMIR and SFTR (here).  The amendments to the Guidelines apply from 3 October 2022.

ESMA - Statement announcing the temporary extension until 30 June 2025 of recognition for three central counterparties (CCPs), ICE Clear Europe Ltd, LCH Ltd and LME Clear Ltd, established in the UK under Article 25 of EMIR (here) 

ESMA - Final Report containing draft RTS for the management body of data reporting services providers (here)

ESMA - Final report on the Trading of European Emission Allowances and Associated Derivatives (here)

ESMA - 2021 corporate reporting enforcement and regulatory report (here)

ESMA - Guidance on the Annex to ESMA Opinion determining Third-Country Trading Venues for the purpose of transparency under MiFIR (here) establish a single EU access point for company information (“ESAP”) (here)

ISDA - Sanctions FAQs (updated 29 March 2022) (here)

ISDA - Research Paper: Digital Regulatory Reporting: Market and Regulatory Initiatives (here)

ISDA - Market Closure Information page updated to address trading operations of the Moscow Exchange and the London Metal Exchange (here)

US Libor Bill (here) On 8 March 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which includes federal legislation that provided a solution for legacy financial contracts tied to LIBOR. This federal legislation applies to all U.S. law contracts.

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