EMIR “REFIT”, which introduces some significant changes to the way in which EMIR is complied with, has finally been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.  The document can be found here.

REFIT introduces changes that have an impact on those in energy and commodities, including:

• Changes to the way in which the clearing threshold is calculated, as well as the frequency of calculation.
• The introduction of an exemption to the reporting of trades between internal entities, where one of the entities is a Non Financial Counterparty (NFC), and the exemption is applied for.
• The ability for “NFC-” entities to fully delegate reporting to the other counterparty where they are Financial Counterparties.

As announced previously by ESMA, the first two changes will be applicable as soon as REFIT goes into force, on the 17th June (see here). This means that thresholds will need to be calculated under the new method as soon as possible.

New EMIR Q+A

ESMA issued an updated Questions and Answers document on EMIR yesterday, with several updates. Many of these relate to REFIT, although there are also other changes. The updated document can be found here. The changes can be found as follows:

• OTC 2 – Page 16 – Several answers relating to notification of threshold breach.
• OTC 4 – Page 21 – Responsibility for determination of status – note a new part around asking the counterparty for their status.
• OTC 20 – Page 38 – Around the clearing obligation.
• OTC 25 – Page 42 – Around the start of the clearing obligation for those who are covered.
• TR 36 – Page 99 – An update on how to report novations.
• TR 42 – Page 105 – A change in how to use the “clearing obligation” field.

These two matters represent a significant change to the impact of EMIR for those in energy and commodities.