Joint Trade Association Letter on EMIR Bilateral Margin Requirements for Equity Options

On November 10, ISDA and seven other trade associations wrote to the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to ask them to provide guidance to national competent authorities (NCAs) to exercise their supervisory powers in relation to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) margin requirements for equity options in a proportionate and risk-based manner between January 4, 2024 and the go-live date for EMIR III. Alternatively, the ESAs should extend the temporary exemption in the EMIR bilateral margin regulatory technical standards beyond the current January 4, 2024 expiry date or until EMIR III takes effect.

It is expected that the European Parliament and Council of the EU will support a permanent exemption for equity options from EMIR bilateral margin requirements.

The EMIR bilateral margin requirements have included a time-limited exemption for equity options since they first entered into force in 2016. This exemption has been extended several times, accompanied by guidance from the ESAs that NCAs should exercise their supervisory powers in a proportionate and risk-based way to bridge gaps between the expiry of previous exemptions and the entry into force of amended bilateral margin rules extending the derogation.

Documents (1) for Joint Trade Association Letter on EMIR Bilateral Margin Requirements for Equity Options

Joint Response to EBA Consultation

On August 12, ISDA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) responded to the European Banking Authority’s discussion paper on certain taxonomy key performance indicators (KPIs) and other aspects of the Disclosures Delegated Act  under Article 8 of...

Response to JSCC on Clearing Fund Consolidation

On August 12, ISDA responded to the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation’s (JSCC) consultation on its proposal to consolidate clearing fund consumption, calculation and deposit segmentation across six clearing qualifications under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. ISDA members broadly support...

Response on CSDD Guidelines

On August 6, ISDA responded to the European Commission’s (EC) consultation on due diligence guidelines under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). While ISDA acknowledges that model contractual clauses can be a helpful resource for in-scope companies, there are...