On November 21, 2017, the final RTS Standards under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation on indirect clearing arrangements for exchange-traded derivatives and amending RTS under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation on indirect clearing arrangements for OTC derivatives were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The versions published are equal to those which were adopted by the European Commission on September 22, 2017. Indirect clearing refers to a situation where two or more entities are intermediaries standing between a client and a CCP in a contractual chain. EMIR established RTS on indirect clearing arrangements applicable to OTC products, and MiFID extends these rules and principles to exchange-traded products. The EMIR RTS is now being revised to align with the new MiFIR RTS. Both pieces of legislation allow for indirect clearing arrangements to be set up and establish structures intended to result in equivalent protections for indirect clearing to those available for direct clearing (where only one intermediary exists). Various requirements in relation to segregation and portability at client, clearing member and CCP level are established and new required procedures to manage client defaults apply at clearing member level. Two new kinds of accounts must be established at client, clearing member and CCP level which enable such persons to distinguish indirect client positions and collateral from own account client positions and collateral.
The RTS and the amending RTS will enter into force on December 11, 2017 and will apply from January 3, 2018.
The RTS on indirect clearing under MiFIR is available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32017R2154&from=EN , the amending RTS on indirect clearing under EMIR is available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32017R2155&from=EN and the existing RTS on indirect clearing under EMIR is available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1511429814156&uri=CELEX:32013R0149 .
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