Advocacy

Regulators across the globe have been focused on ensuring that systemically important benchmarks used in global markets are robust and subject to scrutiny.  We have been monitoring and commenting on recommendations and benchmark transitions.

FIA is closely monitoring the U.K. withdrawal from the European Union in the area of financial services. We continue to work with regulators in the U.K. and the E.U. and with our members to provide for a smooth transition when it comes to derivatives clearing.

New capital requirements for banking organizations have significant impacts on the ability of banks to provide clearing services for their customers. We are working with regulators to promote risk-reducing effects of clearing while at the same time, preserve a strong and diverse community of clearing firms.

Clearing is a core tenant of a safe and sound financial system. We are monitoring new regulations affecting CCPs, clearing members and other market participants in the clearing ecosystem, and providing information on CCP rulebooks, operational practices, default procedures and financial resources.

FIA advocates on behalf of members and provides resources and various forums and Committees to discuss regulatory implementation and day-to-day issues in metals, energy and agricultural markets, including position limits, transaction or position reporting and regulatory exemptions.

Oversight of today’s global markets requires international coordination to maximize efficiency.  We  advocate for reasonable, pragmatic and deferential cross-border regulation and oversight that provide safeguards while allowing for competition and innovation.

The protection of customer funds is paramount. We work with industry and regulators to meet new regulatory requirements that enhance safeguards of customer funds.

FIA advocates on behalf of member firms regarding the rules imposed by the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) - the European regulation on OTC derivatives, central counterparties (CCPs) and trade repositories (TRs). Designed to improve transparency and reduce the risks associated with derivatives markets, EMIR also establishes common organizational, conduct of business and prudential standards for CCPs and trade repositories. We  also provide forums for firms to discuss implementation challenges, and operational and legal challenges that the Regulation poses in a day-to-day clearing operation.

We works with members to monitor innovative FinTech firms and analyze how they impact the traded and cleared derivatives industry.

FIA is working with members and regulators on current challenges relating to market conduct and continues to explore the impact of market conduct regulations, such as the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), the Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) in Europe and the Dodd-Frank anti-manipulation and disruptive trade practices provisions in the United States. We broadly supports efforts to preserve and enhance market integrity and strives to ensure that regulators design and implement these regulations to serve their intended purpose.

The E.U.’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) are Europe’s regulations that implemented major capital markets reforms. MiFID II and MiFIR came into effect on 3 January 2018 and will be reviewed during 2020. We are working with members to address key aspects of MiFID II as they relate to listed and cleared derivatives - both within EU, as well as the impact on firms outside of the European region.

The financial services sector and the critical infrastructure it supports is an attractive target for hackers and cyber-criminals. No one is immune to these attacks, and the threats themselves are continually evolving, becoming more targeted, complex, and dangerous. We work with our membership and regulators to host roundtables and workshops to minimize the risk of attacks and assist with recoveries.

Regulators in the U.S. are implementing regulatory regimes that govern the application of speculative position limits to the commodity futures and swaps markets. We are at the forefront of advocacy in this area to help ensure that these regimes accommodate commercial hedging and risk management activities, and do not disrupt markets or impose undue costs on market participants.

A key aspect of European market reform has been the introduction of regulatory reporting requirements for OTC and ETD derivatives. These fall under the EMIR regulation, but also feature in MiFID II and the European energy market regulation, REMIT.

FIA engages with members to identify and address matters that affect trade execution across the global industry. Topics covered, but not limited to, are automated trading risk, market access, exchange specific requirements, and other trading and execution related regulatory obligations across global jurisdictions.

FIA provides a forum for members to discuss sustainable finance developments, which has become a key focus area for regulators and market participants alike. We monitor numerous projects, such as the proposed EU taxonomy, responsible sourcing or disclosure requirements and are liaising with regulators and policy makers to ensure any requirements consider the role of derivatives markets.