ESMA Seeks Public Comment on Prepared Standards for OTC Clearing Obligation

European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") is seeking comments on a recently released discussion paper, The Clearing Obligation under EMIR, which focuses on implementing the clearing obligation under European Markets Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR"). The discussion paper addresses the following issues:

• The standard procedure for determining over-the-counter ("OTC") derivative classes to be subject to the clearing obligation;
• The central counterparties designated to clear the derivatives;
• An analysis of the current readiness of each asset class of derivatives vis-à-vis the clearing obligation; and
• The methodology to be used by ESMA for determining specifics of the contracts and potential issues linked to the clearing obligation.

See: ESMA Discussion Paper.See also: MFA Blog Post.