EUROPE: ESMA launches consultation on EU short selling and CDS

Wednesday January 25 2012

In November 2011 the European Council and the Parliament voted on a Regulation on EU short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps. This is about to be published and should be applicable from 1 November 2012. According to the Regulation ESMA has to submit its technical standards to the Commission by 31 March 2012. ESMA has published for consultation the draft technical standards, inviting comments by 13 February 2012. Following the close of the consultation, ESMA will consider the feedback it received to this consultation in February/March 2012 and expects to publish a final report and submission of the draft technical standards to the European Commission by 31 March 2012 for endorsement.

The consultation concerns, among others:

* agreements, arrangements and measures that adequately ensure that the share or the sovereign debt will be available for settlement;

* details of the information on net short positions to be notified to competent authorities and disclosed to the public;

* means by which information on net short positions in shares may be disclosed to the public;

* information to be provided to ESMA by competent authorities,

* exemption where the principal venue is located outside the Union.

Click on the above link for more details.