commodity dealers

Council of EU Adopts Regulation Extending Exemptions for Commodity Dealers under CRR

On May 30, 2016, the Council of the EU published a press release confirming that it has adopted a Regulation amending the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013) (CRR) to extend an exemption from certain requirements for commodity dealers.

The expiry date for the exemption of commodity dealers from large exposure requirements and from own funds requirements has been pushed back under the amending Regulation from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2020.

The CRR requires the European Commission to prepare reports on the prudential supervision of commodity dealers and of investment firms in general. Since the review is still underway, it is likely that new legislation that may be required would only be adopted after the initial expiry date for the exemption. The purpose of the extension is therefore to provide commodity dealers with a stable regulatory environment in the meantime.

The European Parliament adopted the amending Regulation on May 11, 2016. It will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ).

Council of EU Grants Exemptions for Commodity Dealers under CRR

On March 23, 2016, the Council of the EU published an approved final compromise text of a proposed Regulation extending the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013) (CRR) to extend certain exemptions for commodity dealers.

Under the CRR commodity dealers are exempt from large exposure and own funds requirements until December 31, 2017, the Council has agreed to extend these exemptions until December 31, 2020. The measure is designed to protect commodity dealers from an unstable regulatory environment in the short term. The Council considered that the application of large exposure and own funds requirements to commodity dealers should come as the result of a thoroughly reasoned decision rather than as a result of a lapsed exemption.

The proposed regulation now requires approval from the European Parliament and adoption by the Council. The Council Presidency confirmed with member states that they will support the extension, which was approved by the Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) on March 7, 2016. Press release.