EMIR 3, a revision of the European OTC Derivatives Regulation, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on 4 December 2024.

The main objective of this text is to reduce the potential risks to financial stability in the European Union linked to the clearing of members and clients exposed to systemically important third-country CCPs (e.g. LCH). It requires certain financial counterparties (FCs) and non-financial counterparties (NFCs) to hold an operational and representative active account within EU CCPs (e.g. Eurex).

ESMA has been mandated to specify the active account requirements (AAR) in a regulatory technical standard (RTS) within six months of the entry force of EMIR 3. The scope, operational conditions, representativeness (actual activity of the account) and reporting are subject to consultation.

In addition to the clarifications needed on a number of points, such as the reference periods for calculations and the inclusion of subsidiaries in third countries, the key points to emerge from industry feedback are the great complexity and frequent redundancy of the reporting required.