ESMA seeks input on EMIR clearing threshold framework

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has published today a discussion paper on EMIR clearing thresholds seeking feedback from market participants and from counterparties trading OTC derivatives.

The report aims to collect stakeholder views on the effectiveness and proportionality of the EMIR clearing thresholds and, more broadly, on the EMIR regime as a whole. It also looks at the effectiveness of the EU regime by comparing it to similar third-country regimes.

ESMA’s report, based on a preliminary analysis of EMIR Trade Repository data collected before the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU), presents key metrics on financial and non-financial counterparties and the volume of OTC derivative trades captured under the current regime.

Next steps

ESMA will consider the responses it receives to the discussion paper by 19 January 2022 and will continue its review with more recent data.