ESMA publishes advice on fines and penalties for 3rd country CCPs
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final technical advice to the European Commission (EC) on procedural rules for imposing fines and penalties on third country central counterparties (TC-CCPs) and alignment of those for TRs and CRAs.
ESMA has included advice on some specific aspects including:
· the right to be heard by the independent investigation officer (IIO);
· the content of the file to be submitted by the IIO;
· access to the file;
· the procedure for imposing fines;
· the adoption of interim decisions;
· the limitation periods for imposition and enforcement of penalties;
· the collection of fines and penalties; and
· the relevant calculation periods.
This final advice builds on the existing enforcement framework regarding TRs and CRAs as well as on the experience in implementing it in the last years.
The EC must now adopt a delegated act where they need to specify all the aforementioned aspects on which ESMA has advised.