Flashnews: CSDR – where do we stand?

09/09/2021

On 1 July, the European Commission (EC) published its report resulting from consultations carried out both in the context of the revision of CSDR (CSDR2) and in the context of the EC 2021 economic recovery programme (CSDR Refit).

6 subjects were selected, including settlement disciplines and in particular the mandatory buy-in regime. It is now to be hoped that the outcome (the proposed text that the EC should forward to Parliament and the Council at the end of 2021) will be in line with the industry’s expectations.

However, while it is very likely that the current buy-in regime will be reviewed, there is little chance, due to a tight schedule, that the new version will apply by February 1, 2022. And even if this were the case, all the actors concerned by this new requirement will have continued to prepare themselves as best they can (there are still many unanswered questions from ESMA and the EC) to comply with a model that will not be, or not long, the definitive one.

It is for these reasons that many professional associations echoing the publication of the report, have written jointly to the EC and the ESMA on 14 July last to request the current buy-in regime not be implemented in February (only penalties would apply) and that this decision be formalized as soon as possible to allow the industry to stop its preparation work.

The summer season is over, hopefully we’ll have some good news soon!