ESMA has has issued a discussion paper on the EMIR clearing threshold, which is used to determine whether groups of entities are subject to increased requirements such as those related to clearing and margining. The paper can be found here.

Most market participants in energy and commodities are non financial counterparties (NFC) on the basis that they are not required to be authorised under MIFID II due to the exemptions available (usually the Ancillary Activity Exemption in Article 2(1)j. The clearing threshold status determines whether such entities are “NFC-” or “NFC+”. NFC+ entities have additional obligations under EMIR relating not only to clearing and margining but also the reporting of valuation and collateral updates and increased risk management requirements. Financial counterparties can also be “FC+” or “FC-“. The specific issue of the commodities asset class is addressed from page 43.