Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2205 of 6 August 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards on the clearing obligation (Text with EEA relevance)

Article 1

Classes of OTC derivatives subject to the clearing obligation

Article 2

For the purposes of Articles 3 and 4, the counterparties subject to the clearing obligation shall be divided in the following categories:

(a) Category 1, comprising counterparties which, on the date of entry into force of this Regulation, are clearing members, within the meaning of Article 2(14) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, for at least one of the classes of OTC derivatives set out in the Annex to this Regulation, of at least one of the CCPs authorised or recognised before that date to clear at least one of those classes;

(b) Category 2, comprising counterparties not belonging to Category 1 which belong to a group whose aggregate month-end average of outstanding gross notional amount of non-centrally cleared derivatives for January, February and March 2016 is above EUR 8 billion and which are any of the following: (i) financial counterparties; (ii) alternative investment funds as defined in Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) that are non-financial counterparties;

(c) Category 3, comprising counterparties not belonging to Category 1 or Category 2 which are any of the following: (i) financial counterparties; (ii) alternative investment funds as defined in Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 2011/61/EU that are non-financial counterparties;

(d) Category 4, comprising non-financial counterparties that do not belong to Category 1, Category 2 or Category 3.

Article 3

Dates from which the clearing obligation takes effect

In respect of contracts pertaining to a class of OTC derivatives set out in the Annex, the clearing obligation shall take effect on:

(a) 21 June 2016 for counterparties in Category 1;

(b) 21 December 2016 for counterparties in Category 2;

(c) 21 June 2019 for counterparties in Category 3;

(d) 21 December 2018 for counterparties in Category 4.

Where a contract is concluded between two counterparties included in different categories of counterparties, the date from which the clearing obligation takes effect for that contract shall be the later date.

By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 1a and 1b, in respect of contracts pertaining to a class of OTC derivatives set out in the Annex and concluded between counterparties which are part of the same group and where one counterparty is established in a third country and the other counterparty is established in the Union, the clearing obligation shall take effect on:

(a) 30 June 2025 in case no equivalence decision has been adopted pursuant to Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 for the purposes of Article 4 of that Regulation covering the OTC derivative contracts set out in the Annex to this Regulation in respect of the relevant third country;

(b) the later of the following dates in case an equivalence decision has been adopted pursuant to Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 for the purposes of Article 4 of that Regulation covering the OTC derivative contracts referred to in the Annex to this Regulation in respect of the relevant third country: (i) 60 days after the date of entry into force of the equivalence decision adopted pursuant to Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 for the purposes of Article 4 of that Regulation covering the OTC derivative contracts referred to in the Annex to this Regulation in respect of the relevant third country; (ii) the date when the clearing obligation takes effect pursuant to paragraph 1.

This derogation shall only apply where the counterparties fulfil the following conditions:

(a) the counterparty established in a third country is either a financial counterparty or a non-financial counterparty;

(b) the counterparty established in the Union is: (i) a financial counterparty, a non-financial counterparty, a financial holding company, a financial institution or an ancillary services undertaking subject to appropriate prudential requirements and the counterparty referred to in point (a) is a financial counterparty; or (ii) either a financial counterparty or a non-financial counterparty and the counterparty referred to in point (a) is a non-financial counterparty;

(c) both counterparties are included in the same consolidation on a full basis in accordance to Article 3(3) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012;

(d) both counterparties are subject to appropriate centralised risk evaluation, measurement and control procedures;

(e) the counterparty established in the Union has notified its competent authority in writing that the conditions laid down in points (a), (b), (c) and (d) are met and, within 30 calendar days after receipt of the notification, the competent authority has confirmed that those conditions are met.

By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 1a, 1b and 2, in respect of contracts pertaining to a class of OTC derivatives set out in the Annex, the clearing obligation shall take effect from 18 February 2022 where the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the clearing obligation has not been triggered by 18 February 2021;

(b) the contracts are novated for the sole purpose of replacing the counterparty established in the United Kingdom with a counterparty established in a Member State.

Article 5

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX