The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced on Friday that it has extended the deadline for temporary recognition of three United Kingdom-based central counterparties (CCPs) until June 30, 2025.
The three CCPs are ICE Clear Europe Limited, LCH Limited and LME Clear Limited. Initially, they received temporary recognition for 18 months from the European financial market supervisor.
“On 22 March 2022, ESMA amended the recognition decisions and tiering determination decisions in respect of the three recognized UK CCPs… that were adopted by ESMA on 25 September 2020, to align them with the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/174 adopted by the European Commission on 8 February 2022,” the latest announcement stated.
Response to Brexit
Central counterparties or CCPs play a crucial role in the derivatives and equities trading market. They primarily reduce credit risk between parties in transactions and facilitate clearing and settlement services.
With the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the fate of the trade settlement came into jeopardy as none of the UK companies could operate in the 27-country bloc without gaining permission.
ESMA granted temporary permission to the three UK-based CCPs only to avoid any sudden disruption in the derivatives and equities trade settlement in the European markets. But, the decision came as a bilateral effort as the UK financial market supervisors also authorized the EEA-licensed companies to operate in the country post-Brexit.
Meanwhile, ESMA published seven consultation papers last July, seeking stakeholder feedback on the implementation of central counterparty (CCP) recovery mandates. It included draft guidelines on the regulatory technical standards (RTS) of the methodology for calculation and maintenance of the additional amount of pre-funded dedicated resources.
