Langen presented the following key points:

 

• On the scope, Langen wants to follow the G20 decision (only OTC) and he called on the EC to stick to this.

• Transitional period for pension funds is granted.

• Non-financial counterparties should be exempted.

• Interoperability is essential.

Commissioner Michel Barnier stressed the importance of introducing a financial transaction tax (FTT) which should be part of the ambitious reform of the financial markets. The EC will publish CRD IV in July, and MiFID II will be published in early autumn. Barnier was delighted to hear that Langen will give extra time to the Council in order to allow them to reach an agreement before the EP’s final vote on EMIR.

 

Barnier presented the following three outstanding issues:

 

• Supervision.

• Scope of implementation on compensation, reporting and access. He is in favour of a broad scope on reporting and compensation. He argues that a broad scope would be more positive and that the EU will be in line with the US.

• Third country issue. It is vital to take into account the territorial impact of the legislation in order to avoid overlapping or loopholes.

Sharon Bowles (ALDE/UK) welcomed the exemption for non-financials, intra-group transactions and pension funds. She believes that retrospection could apply to the reporting obligation. Bowles also supports the FX exemption and said that the US legislation and the EU legislation will not be identical.

 

Jean-Paul Gauzès (EPP/FR) supports the scope of the regulation only to cover OTC derivatives, and he believes that the legislation should not be retroactive at all.

 

Leonardo Domenici (S&D/IT) also supports the scope of the legislation only to cover OTC derivatives. He mentioned that commodities markets also need special rules.

 

Pascal Canfin (Greens/FR) welcomed that the ECON text has removed the information threshold so that all trade should be reported to the trade repository.

 

Kay Swinburne (ECR/UK) stressed that the ECON report takes into account the needs of non-financials and pensions funds. This exemption should also be considered in other financial services legislation, such as MiFID II or CRD IV.

 

Vicky Ford (ECR/UK) also said that  non-financials’ needs should also be taken in CRD IV and that it will be wrong to blame derivatives of the fluctuations on commodities markets.

 

Barnier concluded by saying that trade repositories will play a very important role in the future as they will register all transaction, and authorities will have access to this data. There is a need to look at the repositories issue with the US authorities to make sure that there is reciprocity. He also said that there should not be more exemptions without a prior analysis from ESMA. On pension funds, he mentioned that there is a need to avoid creating loopholes and that’s the reason why they plan to put in place a transitional period for them.