SFTR – the countdown to compliance begins
Commenting on the adoption of the Regulatory Technical Standards for SFTR, our Senior Regulatory Reporting Specialist, Jonathan Lee said,
“The European Commission’s decision to adopt the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementation Technical Standards (ITS) for Securities Financing Transaction Reporting (SFTR) on 13th December 2018 presents the final piece in the puzzle of certainty around the Article 4 regulatory reporting obligation go-live. It also dictates the timeline to implementation. The European Parliament and Council of Ministers now have a three-month scrutiny period, followed by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, a further 20 days will pass and the regulation comes into force. Once in force, Credit Institutions (Banks) and Investment Firms have 12 months to implement reporting, Central Counterparties (CCPs) and Central Securities Depositories (CSDs) have 15 months, Pension Funds, Insurance/Reinsurance Companies, AIFs and UCITs have 18 months and Non-Financial Counterparties have 21 months. On that basis, reporting will start in earnest in April (possibly May) 2020 for Banks with the others to follow in three month increments.
“At present, the actual content of the RTS and ITS have only been released to a select few (it is not yet public) but we understand that few changes have been made from the ESMA 31st March 2017 and EC July 2018 versions. Now is the time to start SFTR budgeting, hiring, planning, building and thinking about testing, controls and governance if your project has not already kicked off.”
Need some help with your SFTR reporting implementation? Contact us for a consultation to find out how you can put the right controls in place to ensure accurate and effective reporting.
