Benchmark Regulation

The European Commission originally proposed draft Regulation on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts1 (Benchmarks Regulation) in September 2013 in the wake of the alleged manipulation of various benchmarks.

On 24 November 2015, the European Parliament and the Council reached a preliminary political agreement2 on a compromise text of the Benchmarks Regulation, an agreement that was confirmed on 9 December 2015 by the Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council of the European Union3. The European Parliament has not yet voted on the text.

This Discussion Paper (DP) is based on the version of the Benchmarks Regulation4 following such agreement and seeks the views of interested parties on ESMA’s policy orientations and initial proposals for the potential Level 2 measures under the Benchmarks Regulation. These measures should take the form of delegated acts of the Commission and ESMA draft technical standards. However, it should be noted that the Benchmarks Regulation has not yet been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).

ESMA – 15 February 2016