On 26 January 2021, the European Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation that specifies the rules of procedure regarding fines and periodic payments to be imposed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on third country central counterparties (CCPs) or related third parties to whom those CCPs have outsourced operational functions or activities subject to ESMA’s investigation and enforcement proceedings, including rules on the right of defence and limitation periods. The Delegated Regulation enters into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The procedural rules for taking supervisory measures and imposing fines are laid down in Article 25i of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). Article 25i(7) of EMIR empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to specify further the rules of procedure for the power to impose penalties, including provisions on the rights of the defence, temporal provisions, and the collection of fines or periodic penalty payments, and the limitation periods for the imposition and enforcement of penalties.  The Delegated Regulation is to be adopted in accordance with Article 82 of EMIR and Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.