The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has written to the European Commission seeking clarification of the term “derivatives” as it is understood under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), according to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner William Yonge.
The securities authority is concerned that the term is not understood in exactly the same way across the European Union, which could lead to problems with how the EMIR scheme is applied. With regard to EMIR, “derivatives” means any of the financial instruments set out in Annex I of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) [PDF]. These include transferable securities, money-market instruments and derivative instruments for the transfer of credit risk.
