On 30 October 2017, the CSSF published a Press Release stating that the Benchmark Regulation ("BMR")1 will apply from 1 January 20182 . As a reminder, from that date, prospectuses issued in accordance with the Prospectus Directive and the UCITS Directive should in principle include clear and prominent information stating whether the benchmark is provided by an administrator included in the register maintained by ESMA. However, UCITS prospectuses approved before that date must update their underlying documents at the first occasion or within 12 months at the latest. The CSSF missed the opportunity to clarify the reference used in BMR to "underlying documents"3.
A Bill of Law (7164) implementing BMR in Luxembourg was deposited with the Parliament on 4 August 2017. The Bill of Law notably designates the CSSF as the competent authority in Luxembourg. On 8 November 2017, ESMA also published an updated version of its Q&A on BMR.
More information on this Regulation is available in our Newsletter December 2016 and the article
"
Benchmark Regulation: Key features and impact on investment
funds" published on our website.
Footnotes
1. "BRM" refers to Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds (Benchmark Regulation).
2. Except for the critical benchmark provisions (i.e. Chapter 4 and Article 46 of the BMR), which became applicable in June 2016. Certain transitional provisions are also provided.
3. Article 52 of BMR.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.