31/08/2020 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 28 August, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) proposed postponing until 1 February 2022 the entry into force of the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTSs) on settlement discipline, which complement Regulation (909/2014) on the rules governing Central Securities Depositories. The initial date the RTSs were due to enter into force was 13 September 2020, but last February ESMA suggested to the European Commission that this should be postponed until 1 February 2021, in order to give stakeholders more time to prepare. In June 2020, the Commission invited ESMA to consider whether it would be appropriate to postpone the date the RTSs were due to enter into force as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The RTSs still need to be formally adopted by the Commission and for no objections to be raised by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. (MF)