SFTR: ESMA publishes final report on technical standards and certain amendments to EMIR

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final report on technical standards under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) and amendments to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). ESMA's final standards set out provisions on:

• SFT reporting;
• data collection and availability;
• defined access levels for different public authorities;
• registration and extension of registration of trade repositories (TRs); and
• exchange of data on sanctions between authorities.

ESMA's final report also includes amendments to existing standards implementing EMIR, aimed to ensure a level playing-field for market participants with regard to registration and access rules.

ESMA has submitted its final draft technical standards to the EU Commission. The Commission has three months to decide whether or not to endorse them.

ESMA expects the SFTR implementing measures to enter into force by the end of 2017. Firms would have to start reporting their SFTs to TRs twelve months after the publication of the implementing measures in the Official Journal, while the reporting obligation itself would be phased-in over nine months.