ESMA readies for SFTR arrival with four trade repositories getting approved
The next step of SFTR preparation has been completed as ESMA has approved four Trade Repositories (TRs) for submission of SFT reports. The four firms are DTCC, Unavista, REGIS-TR and KDPW. Each of the four TRs also act as repositories for EMIR reporting.
Prior to the approval, the four TRs had been working on the assumption of getting their SFTR license and had already opened up testing environments and spoken with clients about pricing. The big change with the approval is that the TRs can now make public their fee schedules which previously were indicative rates being shared and pending regulatory approval.
In March, when postponing SFTR’s first go-live phase from April to July 13th, ESMA mentioned that they would also delay TR approvals until after April (more on this). In addition, they stated their own and TR difficulties with meeting the initial April 13th go-live date. As such, holding off on TR approvals was meant to provide both ESMA and the TRs more time to work on their operational difficulties due to work from home and other COVID-19 related challenges.
With SFTR now two months away, and TRs officially approved, the next big issue of focus is continuing to test various SFT trade scenarios as well as final decisions on sharing UTI details.
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