13 December 2019

ESMA: Procedural rules for penalties imposed on Third-Country CCPs, TRs and CRAs

This consultation paper sets out ESMA’s preferred options for the procedural rules on penalties imposed on TC-CCPs and TRs. In order to ensure alignment, the consultation paper sets out also ESMA’s proposed amendments to the existing procedural rules for penalties imposed on CRAs.

ESMA welcomes comments from TC-CCPs, TRs and CRAs in order to assist in the production of the technical advice.

The consultation paper is comprised of 13 sections and two annexes:

• Section 1 includes the background of this consultation paper.
• Section 2 concerns the scope of the proposed rules.
• Section 3 relates to the right to be heard by the investigation officer.
• Section 4 concerns the rules on the content of the file, that must be submitted to ESMA by the investigation officer.
• Section 5 relates to the procedure for the imposition of fines and supervisory measures and the rights of the person subject to investigation.
• Section 6 covers the proposed procedure for the imposition of periodic penalty payments.
• Section 7 relates to the right of the persons subject to investigation to access the file.
• Section 8 concerns the procedure for interim decisions that may be imposed by ESMA in case urgent action is needed.
• Section 9 covers the limitation periods for the imposition of penalties, whereas
• Section 10 concerns the limitation periods for the enforcement of penalties.
• Section 11 relates to the methods for the collection of fines and periodic penalty payments, and
• Section 12 concerns the calculation of periods, dates and time limits to be set in the rules.
• Section 13 concerns the consistency of the proposed rules with the rules of procedure on penalties imposed on credit rating agencies.
• Section 14 includes Annexes I and II, that respectively provide the summary of the consultation questions and the Commission’s provisional mandate to provide the technical advice.

ESMA will consider all comments received by 18 January 2020.

Full consultation paper on ESMA

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