As mentioned in Regulatory Roundup 51, the EMIR reporting obligation begins on 12 February 2014. The details of what needs to be reported to a Trade Repository can be found using the ‘EMIR: Minimum Reporting Data’ link (see the Annex).
A reminder that firms will require a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for reporting purposes in accordance with Article 3 in the link ‘EMIR: Reporting Frequency & Format’. As both a UCITS and an AIF fall within the definition of a “financial counterparty” – see Article 2(8) of EMIR for the full definition – those funds will also require their own LEI (and in the case of an umbrella fund reporting is required at the sub-fund level).
At a recent seminar the FCA commented that whilst ‘thousands’ of LEIs have been issued, they would have expected the number to be in the ‘tens of thousands’ so the regulator’s fear is that many firms will leave applying for an LEI until the last minute.
The concept of an LEI arises from an initiative to create a global reference data system which will serve to identify every relevant legal entity or structure worldwide. The latter has not been fully developed yet so a (pre) LEI system has been adopted as an interim solution. An LEI can be obtained from the London Stock Exchange at a cost of (plus VAT) £100 (and £50 p.a.)
