Brussels, 25/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 March, the economic and monetary affairs committee of the European Parliament adopted its position on the proposed regulation aiming to improve the transparency of repurchasing and loan operations on securities used in the shadow banking sector.
“The 'securities financing transactions' regulation guarantees more transparency and stability for the financial markets, better access to credit and more investments for SMEs”, said Renato Soru (S&D, Italy), rapporteur on this dossier, on Twitter (our translation) (see EUROPE 11260).
The draft regulation requires the securities financing transactions in question to be reported to central registers, irrespective of the counterparties. Central banks, public agencies managing the sovereign debt of eurozone countries and the Bank for International Settlements would not be covered by the requirements. The MEPs take the view that not only investment funds, but also listed companies and banks should also publish data on their securities loan, repurchase and reallocation transactions in their financial statements, an EP press release states.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has been mandated to develop the reporting standards, in view of the fact that the notifications to the central registers must take place within three working days following the conclusion of an operation. The EP also stresses the need to develop markers clearly to identify each operation and financial player involved. The central registers would have to register with the ESMA or apply for an extension of their prerogatives if they are already active in the field of derivative financial products ('EMIR' regulation).
Negotiations with the Council, which reached its position in November 2014 (see EUROPE 11201), will start in April. The legislative proposal also aims to prevent the proposed regulation on the structural reform of banks from leading to a displacement of activities into the shadow banking sector. (Mathieu Bion)