Ban on re-use of collateral collected as initial margin
- Category: EMIR
Firms implementing re-use, re-pledge or re-hypothecation of initial margin as an essential component of their business models will have to reconsider strategies. Collateral transformation services may also be affected.
Concentration limits on collateral pursuant to EMIR draft RTS
- Category: EMIR
Pursuant to the draft RTS, depending on the assets' class, the concentration limits on initial and variation margins range from 10 to 50%. Non-financials below a clearing threshold shouldn't bother.
The two distinct MiFID II exemptions for EU ETS operators
- Category: MiFID
The EU ETS operators probable don't put to much weight whether they trade in the spot market or in emissions derivatives markets (particularly given the availability of financial products such as "daily futures" for instance), nevertheless, from regulatory point of view under MiFID II draft Directive each of these markets will be covered by distinct exemption.
Each of these exemptions have its own strict perimeters, which must be observed, unless EU ETS operator intends to apply for a MiFID licence.
EMIR dispute resolution procedures under EFET ERMTA and ISDA Protocol - dual approach
- Category: EMIR
Industry master agreements differentiate between the "standard" dispute resolution procedure on the one hand and the process designed specifically for resolving EMIR-mandated issues on the other. What are their inter-dependencies?
RRM conception crystallised
- Category: REMIT
Market participants may choose either to become an RRM themselves or to use one or more third party RRMs to submit transaction reports to the ACER.
Physically-settled commodity derivatives - regulatory mess
- Category: MiFID
Is it really physically-settled gas and power forwards traded on multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) are 'financial instruments' for MiFID purposes?
Physically settled derivatives in MiFID II - prepare for fundamental change
- Category: MiFID
Only physically-settled oil and coal commodity derivatives contracts as well as REMIT wholesale energy products deserved special treatment in the new financial market architecture created by MiFID II and MiFIR. All others traded on an OTFs will fall under financial instruments regulation.
Coal-biomass co-firing plants in the Community Guidelines on Environmental and Energy State Aid for 2014-2020
- Category: Energy market
Coal-biomass co-firing plants under serious risk of returning aid due to imprecise clues.
Guarantees and branches - key elements for third-country interest in EMIR
- Category: EMIR
EMIR cross-border issues (to be clear, the circumstances under which the EMIR clearing obligation, risk mitigation techniques and margin requirements apply to contracts between two non-EU entities) have been finally settled and published on 21 March 2014 in the Official Journal.
It is already known which guarantees in the extra-EU circulation are subject to EMIR rules.
The authorisation of the first European CCP does not cover emission allowances
- Category: EMIR
The authorisation under EMIR Regulation of Nasdaq OMX Clearing AB by the Finansinspektionen in Sweden as the first EU-based CCP on 18 March 2014 has limited impact on the European carbon market since the scope of the notification does not cover emission allowances.
MiFID II finally settled - EU ETS installations' operators exempted
- Category: MiFID
A specific exemption for operators with compliance obligations under the EU ETS Directive has been inserted in MiFID II compromised text of February 2014.
To remain exempted the said operators, however, mustn't provide any investment services or apply a high frequency algorithmic trading technique.
There is also a separate exemption for dealing on own account or providing other investment services in emission allowances as an ancillary activity, but in this case an annual notification to the financial authority is required.
EU ETS Market Stability Reserve - a remedy with side effects
- Category: Implementation
The European Commission asserted that the EU ETS Market Stability Reserve would both address the surplus of emission allowances that has built up and improve the system's resilience to major shocks by automatically adjusting the supply of allowances to be auctioned.
But the operation of the reserve is based only on the volumes of allowances in circulation, which seems the fundamental shortcoming.
 Market Stability Reserve - a remedy with side effects.pdf | [ ] | 1885 kB |