On 2 December 2019, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published guidance on registering securitisation repositories.
ESMA has direct responsibilities regarding the registration and supervision of securitisation repositories under the Securitisation Regulation laying down a general framework for securitisation and creating a specific framework for simple, transparent and standardised securitisation.
The purpose of the guidance is to provide information on ESMA’s registration process to companies that intend to apply to become a securitisation repository under the Securitisation Regulation. In the case where a company is already registered under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation or the Securities Financing Transaction Regulation and intends to register under the Securitisation Regulation too, it needs to apply for an extension of registration. The information provided in the guidance applies to both cases.
The guidance covers:
- timing of applications;
- pre-application communications with ESMA;
- format and submission of the application;
- deadlines;
- assessment of completeness, requests for additional information and notification of completeness;
- assessment of compliance;
- notification of ESMA decision; and
- registration fees.
However, the guidance does not address issues relating to the substantive examination of the conditions for registration and does not provide guidance on how to meet the conditions for registration.