Regulatory technical standards (RTS) providing detailed requirements relating to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Saturday 23 February 2013. They will come into force 20 days after publication (i.e. on 15 March 2013) and will have direct application in each member state, including the UK, without the need for local legislation. EMIR has already been in force since 16 August 2012, and certain implementing provisions (ITS) came into force on 10 January 2013. However, many provisions of the main regulation required further detailed provisions to be specified before they could be fully implemented.
The RTS deal with the bulk of the outstanding detail, ranging from the contents of reports on derivative transactions and requirements relating to the governance and operation of central clearing houses to risk mitigation procedures for non-cleared OTC derivatives. Whilst there are provisions dealing with the phasing-in of some of the key requirements for fund managers and their client, some of the requirements, for instance the new requirements relating to timely confirmation of non-cleared OTC trades, come into effect straight away. The lack of a transitional period for these provisions was one of the key concerns raised by the European Parliament in a draft motion which would have delayed the passage of a number of the RTS had it not been withdrawn on 7 February 2013 following assurances from the European Commission. The Commission has since up-dated its FAQs on EMIR to include a question dealing with the application of the timely confirmation requirement. This may provide some limited comfort.