RegTech Intelligence 
A tense week of stand-offs between ECON and the European Parliament over sending parts of EMIR back to the drawing board has ended. The big news? EMIR timelines look to be back on track.
The potential delays looked to be a blessing for the industry, granting a second chance to gain clarity over non-financial counterparties. Now they look like a missed opportunity. On Thursday, MEPs withdrew a motion to potentially delay EMIR though, according to MEP Kay Swinburne, “the Commission has acknowledged that the Parliament’s concerns are valid”. No-one is still really sure what that means, but there are some details of this compromise.
To address these concerns, additional new guidance on rule interpretation is due out sometime soon and a “long phase in” for non-financial companies expected. Alignment with the Dodd-Frank in the US weighed heavily on this decision, with Chairman Barnier stating “we are now in a position to apply stringent rules in Europe that are equivalent to the ones in the USA.” Overall, this means the pressing questions over EMIR compliance are still hanging. With some obligations potentially looming next month, the exact release date of the guidance remains unannounced. The bottom line is how will this new guidance actually simplify implementation? And when will this phase in period begin?