Consultation Paper On The Clearing Obligations Under EMIR

On 12 July 2013, the European Securities and Market Authority ("ESMA") published a discussion paper (the "Discussion Paper") on the clearing obligations applicable under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR"), on which they are seeking stakeholder's views on regulatory technical standards ("RTS") which will implement provisions of EMIR.

EMIR provides for the obligation to centrally clear over-the-counter ("OTC") derivative contracts and will lead to the collection of post-trade data. It is hoped that the collection of such data will lead to the increased transparency and stability of the financial system as a whole. Pursuant to EMIR, ESMA is obliged to draft RTS identifying the class of OTC derivatives that should be subject to the clearing obligation. The RTS must stipulate the date from which this obligation takes effect and whether any phase-in procedures will apply.