It’s the 12th February 2014 – the day of the Go Live for EMIR Reporting of Trades. After a countdown lasting years, it is finally mandatory to report all of your derivatives to a registered Trade Repository, on a daily basis, no matter who you are (with some exceptions).
As outlined several times on this board, there are still many unclear and unresolved issues, and many companies are not ready. Some have left it rather late, and some have found the challenge to be large.
No mater how ready, today is the day when we will see a surge of trades being sent to TRs. And early indications are that some are struggling to cope.
Many accounts have not been opened yet, with applications taking longer and longer to process. And many still have not received LEIs, since the “LOU”s that issue them are also backed up.
Last night saw pleas from more than one TR for Market Participants to stop overloading their test servers.
And also last night, ESMA issued a new Questions and Answers document, which amongst other things give new guidance on how to fill blank values, how UTIs should be constructed, and by whom, and also pronounced that counterparty pairs need to agree how to report trades under the “E” taxonomy. It is quite late to do that by the 12th though.
It will be interesting to see how the day goes. Stay tuned for updates. And please do send them also.