ESMA postpones certain EMIR 3 deliverables

ESMA has notified the Commission of a number of deliverables, under several legislative files, that it plans to deprioritise or delay. These include certain technical standards and guidelines under EMIR 3 that had been due from ESMA late this year, or by mid-2026. However, no delays to implementation of the active account requirement are being introduced. The timetable for delivery of the draft RTS relating to changes to the clearing thresholds under Article 4a and Article 10 also remains unchanged.

Perhaps the most significant and welcome delay is to RTS and ITS providing for annual reporting by clearing members and clients of clearing activity conducted at third country CCPs, under Article 7d of EMIR. This delay is intended to align with the delay also planned to RTS and ITS further detailing the monthly reports required to be provided by EU CCPs under Article 7e of EMIR, pending implementation by ESMA of the required centralised database. The likely timeframe for implementation of this database, and consequently the extent of these delays, is unclear.

In relation to reporting of derivatives to trade repositories under Article 9 of EMIR, it is helpful that ESMA will delay RTS on the meaning of “systemic manifest errors” that would trigger penalties being imposed, and the guidance on “procedures and arrangements to ensure data quality”, by 12 months to December 2026.

Less helpful however, is the six month delay to RTS detailing the requirements for exemption from clearing for post-trade risk reduction transactions, from December 2025 to June 2026. This exemption, whilst technically already in force, will therefore likely remain difficult for market participants to rely upon in practice, as much of the detail is to be set out in the technical standards. Counterparties impacted by this may wish to consider discussing availability of the exemption, in advance of the technical standards, with their national competent authority.

Mandated RTS on CCP interoperability are also delayed by six months to June 2026, and ESMA will delay guidelines intended to encourage public entities to clear through EU CCPs, by six months to end-2026.