EU warms to ‘no action’ as margin rules bite

European financial market regulators have operated for some time without an equivalent to the ‘no action letters’ available to the other regulatory authorities such as those in the US but the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has woken up to the need for this recourse as a looming March 1 rollout of variation margin rules on uncleared derivatives threatens lockdown for swathes of unprepared participants.