On 8 July 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a Final Report on the regulatory technical standards (RTS) concerning the central counterparties’ (CCPs) admission criteria elements, following the review of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3).

Background

Under Article 37(7) of EMIR (as amended) ESMA is mandated to develop draft RTS further specifying the elements to be considered when a CCP: (a) establishes its admission criteria referred to in Article 37(1) of EMIR (as amended), and (b) assesses the ability of non-financial counterparties (NFCs) acting as clearing members to meet margin requirements and default fund contributions referred to in Article 37(1a) of EMIR (as amended).

When developing the draft RTS, ESMA is required to take into account: (a) the modalities and specificities through which NFCs might, or already do, access clearing services, including as direct clearing members in sponsored models; (b) the need to facilitate prudentially sound direct access of NFCs to CCP clearing services and activities; (c) the need to ensure proportionality; and (d) the need to ensure an effective management of risks.

Final Report

The Final Report presents the final draft RTS prepared by ESMA following an earlier consultation.

Section 4 outlines the requirements proposed by ESMA with regard to the elements to be considered when a CCP establishes its admission criteria.

Section 5 sets out the requirements proposed by ESMA with regard to elements to be considered when a CCP assesses the ability of NFCs acting as clearing members to meet margin requirements and default fund contributions.

Section 6 contains various annexes including the final draft RTS.

Next steps

The Final Report, including the final draft RTS presented in it, will be submitted to the European Commission. The Commission has three months to decide whether to adopt the draft RTS in the form of a Commission Delegated Regulation. Following the adoption, they are then subject to non-objection by the European Parliament and the Council.