On 31 March 2020, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final technical advice to the European Commission on procedural rules for imposing fines and penalties on third country central counterparties and alignment of those for trade repositories and credit rating agencies.
ESMA’s final technical advice covers:
- the right to be heard by the independent investigation officer (IIO);
- the content of the file to be submitted by the IIO;
- access to the file;
- the procedure for imposing fines;
- the adoption of interim decisions;
- the limitation periods for imposition and enforcement of penalties;
- the collection of fines and penalties; and
- the relevant calculation periods.
The Commission must now adopt a delegated act where they need to specify all the aforementioned aspects on which ESMA has advised.
