Friday November 23 2018

On 19th of November 2018, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) published the Benchmark Regulation to oversee the accuracy and integrity of financial benchmarks in Europe.

Benchmarks Regulation

The Benchmarks Regulation entered into force across the EU on 1 January 2018 and introduces a regime for benchmark administrators that will ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial benchmarks in Europe.

The Benchmarks Regulation has the following objectives:

1. Improving governance and controls over the benchmark process, in particular to ensure that administrators avoid conflicts of interest, or at least manage them adequately;
2. Improving the quality of input data and methodologies used by benchmark administrators;
3. Ensuring that contributors to benchmarks and the data they provide are subject to adequate controls, in particular to avoid conflicts of interest;
4. Protecting consumers and investors through greater transparency and adequate rights of redress.

The scope of the Benchmarks Regulation is broad, and benchmarks deemed to be critical are subject to stricter rules, including the power for the supervising authority to mandate contributions of input data.  Administrators of benchmarks must apply for authorisation / registration and are subject to supervision by the competent authority of the country in which they are located. In addition, administrators are required to have appropriate governance arrangements and controls to avoid conflicts of interest.

This is an ongoing process and we will publish a further update on our website in due course.

Click on the above link for further information.