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Related areas
ESA’s final report on simplified initial margin requirements under EMIR
The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have published a final report containing draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) to simplify the bilateral margin requirements under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2251.
Under the draft RTS, counterparties below EMIR’s €8bn initial margin threshold would no longer be required to exchange initial margin on either new or existing uncleared over–the counter OTC derivative contracts. Currently, the exemption applies only to existing contracts.
The amendments respond to requests from market participants and support the ESAs' broader objectives of simplification and burden reduction. The final report and draft RTS have been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement. If adopted, the RTS will be subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council before being published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
ESMA consultation on the reporting framework under EMIR for clearing activity at recognised CCPs
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a consultation on draft RTS for the annual reporting of clearing activity at recognised third party CCPs under Article 7d of EMIR. Article 7d introduces a new reporting regime that is not yet developed at Level 2.
The reporting obligation, introduced by Article 7d of EMIR, will apply to clearing members and clients, that clear transactions through recognised third–country CCPs.
The proposed RTS and implementing technical standards specify the scope, content and format of the reporting. The information to be reported would cover the types of financial and non–financial instruments cleared, average annual values cleared by EU currency and asset class, and margin amounts.
The framework is intended to give ESMA and national competent authorities a consistent overview of the scale, characteristics and risk profile of EU firms’ exposures to recognised third–country CCPs. To minimise the additional compliance burden, ESMA proposes reusing information available through existing reporting channels and requiring new information only where it is not already available to supervisory authorities.
Fund managers should consider whether any funds under management access recognised third–country CCPs as clients of clearing members and assess the potential reporting and data requirements.
Submissions are invited until 12 October 2026. ESMA will then consider the feedback received and prepare a final report
ESAs issue statement on ICT and cyber risks from frontier AI models
The ESAs have published a statement calling for a cross–sectoral, risk–based and consistent supervisory approach to mitigate the ICT risks stemming from frontier AI models.
The statement takes into account existing regulatory requirements, the European Commission’s Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, as well as recent publications by the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and other competent authorities.
The ESAs outline measures to help financial entities strengthen their operational resilience against cyber risks linked to frontier AI models. Particular emphasis is placed on the prevention, detection and management of these risks.
The statement underlines that financial entities should have robust governance and risk management frameworks in place to support the effective management and mitigation of cyber risks associated with frontier AI models. It also updates on ongoing and planned DORA oversight activities for critical ICT third–party providers (CTPPs) to address this risk.
The ESAs encourage both financial entities and competent authorities to use the statement as a basis for supervisory dialogue, taking into account existing supervisory expectations. Such an approach aims to help to ensure that the EU financial system remains resilient against the risks driven by frontier AI technologies.
Retail investment strategy (RIS)
The European Commission has issued a call for advice asking ESMA for technical advice on level 2 measures under the proposed Directive on retail investment protection. The proposed Directive amends the existing retail investor protection rules under MiFID, the IDD, the Solvency II Directive, the UCITS Directive and AIFMD.
The request for advice covers several topics including on value for money, inducements, client’s best interest, simplifying the retail investor journey, suitability and appropriateness assessments, simple advice, records and agreement, marketing communications and undue costs.
To simplify adoption, ESMA has been asked to group the mandates into one delegated regulation and one delegated directive for each of the sectoral legislative frameworks. A detailed timeline is set out in the Annex to the call for advice.
Reflecting the expectation that the proposed Directive will be finalised with no material changes and published in the Official Journal by January 2027, the Commission has requested technical advice from ESMA in advance of its formal adoption. ESMA's advice is due by 1 October 2027. The schedule should leave sufficient time for the Commission to finalise the accompanying level 2 measures and for firms to make any operational and compliance adjustments required before the new rules take effect in 2029.
MiFID enhanced order execution policy RTS
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/825 with regard to regulatory technical standards specifying the criteria to be taken into account in establishing and assessing the effectiveness of order execution policies of investment firms and repealing Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2017/575 and (EU) 2017/576 has been published in the Official Journal of the EU.
The new regulatory technical standards, which apply to MiFID investment firms, set out requirements relating to:
The Commission Delegated Regulation enters into force on 12 August 2026 and will apply from 12 February 2028.
For more information on these topics please contact any member of A&L Goodbody's Asset Management & Investment Funds team.
Date published: 7 September 2026