On the 30th March 2017, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report containing the draft regulatory and implementing technical standards (RTS/ITS) under the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR). The report contains the detailed rules to implement the new European regulatory framework aimed at ensuring the accuracy and integrity of benchmarks across the European Union.
The draft RTS/ITS sets out the behaviours and standards expected of administrators and contributors, and will ensure that financial benchmarks are produced in a transparent and reliable manner. The draft standards include provisions ensuring:
- the full process of provision of a benchmark is checked by a new oversight function that administrators have to establish;
- the potential manipulation of benchmarks is minimised, through new rules regarding the methodology of calculation and the contribution of input data;
- that conflicts of interest of administrators and contributors are properly managed; and
- a level playing field across different Member States for the authorisation and registration of benchmark’s administrators.