EMIR 3.0: Onboarding of Market Participants to comply with the active account regime (AAR)

1.  Introduction

After the EU regulators agreed on EMIR 3.0 in early 2024, the publication of the final legislative text including the active account requirement (AAR) in the EU Official Journal took place on 4 December 2024. EMIR 3.0 will therefore enter into force on 24 December 2024.

There is a 6-months transition period for the AAR until 24 June 2025, during which ESMA is specifying the technical details for the implementation. With ESMA being committed to provide the industry with guidance in time, the draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) were launched for market consultation on 20 November 2024 with the consultation period running until 27 January 2025.

Independent of the availability of the final RTS, however, the industry already needs to ensure compliance with the AAR starting 24 June 2025, i.e. by the end of the 6-months transition period following entry into force of EMIR 3.0.

The AAR foresees the obligation to maintain an active account for systemically relevant products with an EU CCP, such as Eurex Clearing. Such relevant product defined in EMIR 3.0 are: OTC IRD in euro and Polish zloty as well as Short Term Interest Rate (STIR) Derivatives in euro.

Market Participants in scope of EMIR 3.0 including the AAR are obliged to ensure readiness in time. This involves starting the onboarding as early as possible and, if necessary, coordinating the onboarding plan with Eurex Clearing.

2.  Required action

Clearing Members offering client clearing for euro and Polish zloty OTC IRD and/or euro ETD STIR products are asked: 

• Until 15 January 2025: to contact your Clearing Key Account Manager and assign an Onboarding Coordinator for Eurex Clearing
• Until mid-February 2025: to determine scope and set-up of onboardings together with your Clearing Key Account Manager, with the aim of concluding all client onboardings by latest end of May 2025

3.  Details of the initiative

In order to prepare for a client onboarding plan, Eurex Clearing recommends that Clearing Members get in contact with their clients as soon as possible. Preparation should include a review of existing clearing arrangements and a check if there is an established connection to an EU CCP like Eurex Clearing and if not, start measures immediately to establish such connection.

Eurex Clearing therefore advises to start the planning of onboarding activities as early as possible together with the Clearing Key Account Managers. Therefore, Clearing Members are asked to contact their Clearing Key Account Manager by latest 15 January 2025. The Eurex Clearing Key Account Manager and the Onboarding Coordinator will develop together an onboarding plan by mid of February 2025 which will ensure a smooth and timely transition to readiness.

Client Onboarding Tool

Eurex Clearing’s C7 CAS tool is ready and able to support the Clearing Members with their client onboardings. The C7 CAS onboarding tool is a web-based tool for Clearing Members (CMs) to onboard buy-side clients including fund managers. The tool is available 24/7 to the Clearing Member for the onboarding of such clients and allows

• Clearing Members to define Buy-Side firms' set-ups (functional & technical, segregation)
• the exchange of data required for the functional, technical and legal set-up of the client
• guidance for Clearing Members through the onboarding process
• provides transparency (overview of onboarded clients, audit trails), reduces the required information to a minimum
• to standardize onboarding process across diverse client types and a wide range of functional set-up possibilities

The C7 CAS tool has already been used to process 3,000+ Buy-Side client set-ups, including 100+ asset manager set-ups, provided by 25+ Clearing Members. Find more details about C7 CAS on the dedicated Support Page on the Eurex Clearing website www.eurex.com/ec-en/ under:

Support > Initiatives & Releases > C7 CAS Releases

Further information with regards to EMIR 3.0 – active account is available on the Eurex Clearing website under the following link: 

EurexOTC Clear > EMIR 3.0 - active account

Unless the context requires otherwise, terms used and not otherwise defined in this circular shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Clearing Conditions or FCM Clearing Conditions of Eurex Clearing AG, as applicable.

Further information