Chair welcomes EU's decision to give equivalence for UK CCPs and CSDs

• Treasury Committee

CCPs act between the buyer and seller of every trade on one or more financial market, becoming the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer.

CSDs are institutions that hold financial instruments. They allow ownership of those instruments to be transferred in electronic form through updating electronic records which are often known as ‘book-entry records'.

CCPs and CSDs will be granted equivalence for 12 months, meaning that the EU and the UK will recognise one another's standards, in the result of a no-deal Brexit.

Chair's comments

Commenting on the announcement, Rt Hon. Nicky Morgan MP, Chair of the Treasury, said:

“ESMA's announcement is welcome news. As the Bank of England has said, Recognition would allow UK CCPs to continue to provide clearing services to their EU members, and EU banks to meet their obligations to UK CCPs.

“By agreeing to grant temporary equivalence for UK CCPs and UK CSDs, one more risk of a no-deal Brexit has been taken off the table.

“As the Committee concluded in its report on transitional arrangements last year, it is overwhelmingly in the economic interests of both the UK and the EU to reach an agreement on transition. A sudden reversion to a trade relationship based on WTO commitments would be damaging for both sides.”

Further information

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