Central Bank of Ireland publishes Markets Update No 1 of 2024

On 9 February 2024, the Central Bank of Ireland (the Central Bank) published Issue No 1 2024 of its regular Markets Update, in which it sets out alerts of interest to Irish regulated firms and other market participants.

For our summaries of the previous issues, please see the right-hand column of this page.

The new Update contains the following items.

Central Bank updates its EMIR webpage re EMIR Refit

The Central Bank has updated its EMIR webpage to reflect the fact that new reporting requirements, brought in under the EMIR Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (EMIR Refit), come into effect from 29 April 2024.

It notes that Financial Counterparties and Non-Financial-Counterparties should engage with their Report Submitting Entities and their Trade Repositories to ensure that they will be able to report under the new reporting requirements

ESAs publish an Opinion on bilateral margining of equity options

On 9 February 2024, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published an Opinion on the application of provisions in Article 38(1) of the EMIR Level 2 Commission Delegated Regulation (the Delegated Regulation), which relate to non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives which are single-stock equity options or index options.

From 4 January 2024 to the earliest of

(a)   the entry into force of the proposed amendment to the Delegated Regulation
(b)   its rejection or
(c)   the adoption of a long-term solution in the context of the EMIR revision

NCAs should not prioritise any supervisory or enforcement action in relation to the equity options requirements set out in Article 11 of EMIR as specified in Articles 9 to 18, 19(1), 19(3) and Article 23 of the Delegated Regulation.

ESMA seeks applicants to join its Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group

ESMA's Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) facilitates ESMA's consultation with stakeholders by providing technical advice on ESMA's policies and activities and brings information on recent market developments to its attention.

On 7 February 2024, ESMA published a Call for expression of interest for 30 new members of the SMSG, representing the interests of all types of financial markets stakeholders. Members serve for a period of four years and can serve two successive terms.

Applications must be submitted no later than 18 March 2024 - details can be found on ESMA's website.

ESMA's Board of Supervisors will select successful candidates in May 2024, with these starting their roles from 1 July 2024.