The European Commission proposed on Thursday 6 May a new set of technical regulatory standards, through five delegated regulations, to complement the 2016 regulation on benchmarks used in financial instruments and contracts.
The first text specifies the characteristics of the systems and controls for identifying and reporting any behaviour that may involve manipulation of a benchmark.
In the Commission’s view, appropriate automated systems for data monitoring are necessary, but they are not sufficient and should be complemented by an appropriate level of human analysis by trained staff. (See text: https://bit.ly/3uuuzkj )
In a second text, the Commission specifies the criteria to be taken into account by competent authorities when assessing how a so-called “critical benchmark” should be transferred to a new administrator and when it may no longer be provided. (See text: https://bit.ly/33o14EZ )
Regulatory technical standards are also proposed to set out the criteria by which competent authorities may require changes to the statement of compliance for so-called “non-significant benchmarks”, if they consider that the statement of compliance does not clearly indicate why it is appropriate for the administrator to deviate from a requirement. (See text: https://bit.ly/3tsIYfB )
The last two delegated regulations deal with methodological and governance aspects. New technical regulatory standards set out the conditions for ensuring that the methodology used to determine a benchmark complies with the quality requirements. (See text: https://bit.ly/3eW6L2m )
The latter text specifies the requirements for ensuring that an administrator’s governance arrangements are “sufficiently robust”. In particular, it indicates the need to clearly define the responsibilities assigned to those involved in the provision of a benchmark. (See text: https://bit.ly/3vJgCPG )
The five texts are based on draft technical regulatory standards submitted to the Commission by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). They should all apply from 1 January 2022. For them to enter into force, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU must not express any objections. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)