The European Commission has adopted “equivalence” decisions on the derivatives regulatory regimes for central counterparties in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Further decisions are awaited for other jurisdictions and for other derivatives regulatory requirements. This paper summarises the equivalence decisions and technical advice that has been produced to date.

Equivalence -

Under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (“EMIR”), the European Commission may adopt implementing acts declaring that the legal, supervisory and enforcement arrangements of a non-EU country are equivalent to the requirements in EMIR.2 Such a decision is necessary for a central counterparty (“CCP”) or trade repository (“TR”) established in a non-EU country to provide their services in the EU. EMIR also requires equivalence decisions to be issued in respect of other obligations. These are relevant in circumstances where one of the counterparties to a trade subject to EMIR is established outside the EU, as an equivalence decision would permit both counterparties to comply with the non-EU country’s equivalent regime instead.