ESMA asks EC to narrow scope of frontloading under EMIR

The chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority has written to the European Commission to request the frontloading obligation for clearing under European Markets Infrastructure Regulation be limited to derivatives cleared between the entry into force of the regulatory technical standards and the beginning of the clearing obligation. Under EMIR, counterparties are currently required to frontload any trades that are caught when the asset class becomes available on an authorised CCP, which kicked off when NASDAQ OMX became the first clearinghouse to receive EMIR approval on March 18.