MMF Regulation

European Commission Letter to ESMA on Share Cancellation Under MMF Regulation

Posted on

 

On July 20, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA“) published a letter it has written to the European Commission about share cancellation under the Regulation on money market funds ((EU) 2017/1131) (“MMF Regulation“).

The letter responds to a January 2018 letter from the Commission in which it agreed with ESMA’s analysis that the practice of share cancellation is not compatible with the MMF Regulation.

ESMA calls on the Commission to make public the text of an opinion of the Legal Service of the Commission on the compatibility of the reverse distribution mechanism or share cancellation with the MMF Regulation. It appears the opinion has been shared with some market participants, but not all. ESMA is of the view that the Commission needs to make its interpretation clear to ensure a proper and consistent interpretation and implementation of the MMF Regulation.

The MMF Regulation started to apply from July 21, 2018.

European Parliament Will Consider Money Market Fund Regulation in April 2017 Plenary Session

Posted on

 

The European Parliament has announced that it will consider the MMF regulation during its upcoming plenary session, currently scheduled to be held April 3-6, 2017.

The MMF regulation is intended to introduce new framework requirements to more effectively regulate money market funds, as well as increase their stability and general liquidity. In particular, the regulation (introduced by the European Commission) is intended to more tightly regulate the shadow banking sector.

The plenary session will allow debate and potential amendment to the scope of the MMF regulation.

ECON Publishes Draft Report on MMF Regulation

Posted on

On November 17, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) published a draft report on the proposed Regulation on Money Market Funds (the MMF Regulation).

Money market funds are a type of investment fund that invests in short-term debt such as money market instruments issued by banks, governments and companies (MMFs).  If adopted, the MMF Regulation will introduce a general framework of requirements to enhance the liquidity and stability of MMF funds.

The draft report sets out suggested amendments to the European Commission’s original proposal and an explanatory statement. The statement comments that:

  • there is still significant scope for improvement relating to liquidity and maturity transformation and in making MMFs more stable;
  • a new category of EU government constant net assets value money market fund (CNAV MMF) should be established, which would invest a majority of assets into EU government debt; and
  • the net asset value of CNAVs should be subject to daily disclosure requirements, stress tests should take place on a quarterly basis and there should be stronger investor warnings.

The Parliament is scheduled to consider the MMF Regulation at its plenary session on March 25, 2015. Draft report.