ESMA: Draft technical standards under the Benchmarks Regulation

ESMA has published its final report containing the draft regulatory and implementing technical standards under the Benchmarks Regulation. The draft standards include provisions ensuring that: the full process of provision of a benchmark is checked by a new oversight function that administrators have to establish; the potential manipulation of benchmarks is minimised, through new rules regarding the methodology of calculation and the contribution of input data; that conflicts of interest of administrators and contributors are properly managed; and a level playing field across different Member States for the authorisation and registration of benchmark’s administrators. The draft technical standards have been submitted to the EC which has three months to decide whether to endorse them.