The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today announce that they have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will enable the exchange of information on derivative contracts held in trade repositories.
The agreement allows ESMA and SFC to have indirect access to trade repositories established in the European Union and Hong Kong. It got into effect on November 19, 2015.
The ESMA-SFC MoU is the first cooperation arrangement among authorities to allow for an indirect access to TRs through exchanges of information. This comes after the recommendation of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to enter into this type of agreements to overcome legal barriers to accessing data on derivatives trades.
In November 2014 and February 2015, ESMA sealed MoUs with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), respectively, enabling a direct access to TR data.
To view the full text of the MoU between ESMA and SFC, click here.