Following the authorisation of Nasdaq OMX Clearing AB (NOMX) as the first EU-based central counterparty (CCP), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published information about NOMX and the contracts it is authorised to clear.
The information provided by ESMA is a:
- list of CCPs authorised to offer services and activities in the Union in accordance with the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). The list at present contains information on NOMX and sets out the classes of financial instruments covered by its authorisation; and
- public register for the clearing obligation under EMIR. The register contains a table setting out a list of classes of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives which CCPs have been authorised to clear by national competent authorities. At present the contracts listed only relate to NOMX.
ESMA will propose draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the clearing obligation if the classes of OTC derivatives notified to it meet the criteria defined in EMIR. The clearing obligation procedure defined in article 5(2) EMIR is triggered every time a new CCP clearing OTC derivatives is authorised. For the clearing obligation, ESMA will only assess the suitability of those classes notified to it. This means that if CCPs are authorised on different dates, several clearing obligation procedures may run in parallel. For each of these procedures, ESMA has up to six months from the time of the notifications to draft the respective RTS, consult and submit them for endorsement to the European Commission.
View ESMA publishes list of authorised CCPs and OTC derivatives, 20 March 2014
