Trade Repositories
Trade repositories (TRs) centrally collect and maintain the records of derivatives under Regulation EU No 648/2012 (EMIR). TRs also centrally collect and maintain records of securities financing transactions (SFTs) under Regulation No 2015/2365, on transparency of securities financing transactions and of reuse and amending EMIR (SFTR).
TRs play a central role in enhancing the transparency of derivative markets and securities financing markets and thus of the financial system.
Under EMIR and SFTR, ESMA has direct responsibilities regarding the registration, supervision and recognition of TRs. EU-based TRs need to be registered, and third country (non-EU) based TRs, which are doing business in the EU need to be recognised by ESMA, in order for counterparties to use them to fulfil their reporting requirements.
Registration and extension of registration
The registration and the extension of registration are highly formalised processes through which ESMA is assessing the information provided by applicants as requested in the relevant technical standards on registration and extension of registration (see below under 'Relevant Regulatory Provisions and Technical Standards) and is deciding on their compliance with EMIR and SFTR requirements. To help firms in the preparation of their application files, ESMA issued a Guidance on registering TRs which we recommend that future applicants read before start preparing their application.
To receive further information on the registration process, please contact the Markets and Data Reporting Department at TR-registration@esma.europa.eu.
You can find below the list of ESMA registered TRs:
Supervision
Following the registration, ESMA supervises the TRs in order to ensure that they comply on an on-going basis with all EMIR and/or SFTR regulatory requirements, thereby enabling regulators and supervisors to access the necessary information in order for them to fulfil their respective mandates.
The risk-based framework is the pillar of ESMA's supervision for TRs. ESMA supervises the registered TRs through a combination of desk-based supervisory activities as well as investigations and on-site inspections.
The desk-based activities comprise:
- Monitoring of data submitted by TRs.
- Analysis of complaints received by market participants.
- Review of the notifications made by TRs of material changes to the conditions of registration or extension of registration.
- Analysis of the periodic information that TRs submit to ESMA.
In order to facilitate ESMA’s ongoing supervision of TRs on a consistent basis, TRs are requested to submit information to ESMA in accordance with the Guidelines on periodic information and notification of material changes to be submitted to ESMA by Trade Repositories. The Guidelines clarify the format and frequency of the different categories of information which ESMA expects to receive in its role as supervisor of TRs registered in accordance with EMIR and/or SFTR, and are supplemented by the following relevant templates to be used by TRs when submitting the information. These templates have been last updated on 6 December 2022 (v2):
- Governance, business, financials and fees templates (v2)
- Internal control templates (v2)
- Data reporting templates (v2)
- IT and information security templates (v2)
ESMA has the power to take appropriate enforcement action where it discovers a breach of the EMIR or SFTR Regulation. These actions can include, among others, the imposition of fines or the withdrawal of registration. See also EC delegated act on fines and penalties for TRs.
For information on the current supervisory focus, please see the latest ESMA’s annual report and work programme or the ad-hoc reports ESMA has published on different specific supervisory topics.
Relevant Regulatory Provisions and Technical Standards
- Guidance on registering EU-based TRs.
- Documents on the applications for registration and extension of registration of TRs under EMIR:
- Regulatory technical standards regarding the details of the application for registration, as amended in 2019 by Regulatory technical standards; and
- Implementing technical standards regarding the format of applications for registration.
- Regulatory technical standards regarding the details of the applications for registration under EMIR REFIT (applicable from 29 April 2024)
- Implementing technical standards regarding the format for applications for registration under EMIR REFIT (applicable from 29 April 2024)
- Documents on the applications for registration and extension of registration of TRs under SFTR:
- Regulatory technical standards regarding the details of the application for registration; and
- Implementing technical standards regarding the format of applications for registration.
- Documents on ESMA fees for TRs:
- Documents on ESMA fines and penalties for TRs:
- Guidelines on periodic information and notification of material changes to be submitted to ESMA by TRs (find also in the section above the templates relevant for the submission of information).
- EMIR reporting and SFTR reporting pages for further information on the applicable regulatory provisions for reporting of derivatives and SFTs to TRs.
Complaints
If you are an employee or a former employee of a TR, please visit the Whistleblowers section. If you do not fall into this category and you wish to submit a complaint about a TR, please fill in this form and email it to TR-info@esma.europa.eu. In the title of your email, please state "Complaint about trade repository".