EU Proposes Reducing Scope of the EU Benchmark Regulation

The European Commission has published a legislative proposal for reducing the scope of the EU Benchmark Regulation. The EU BMR provides the authorization and registration requirements for benchmark administrators, including third-country entities, and the requirements for governance and control of administrators. It provides for different categories of benchmarks depending on the risks involved, imposes additional requirements on benchmarks considered to be "critical" and gives powers to national regulators to mandate, under certain conditions, contributions to or the administration of critical benchmarks.

The Commission's proposal, designed to ease the burdensome requirements for smaller benchmark administrators, is to change the scope of the BMR by removing the requirement for non-significant benchmark administrators to obtain authorization or registration (EU administrators) or endorsement or recognition (third-country administrators). This will mean that the requirements for governance and control of administrators would no longer apply to these benchmark administrators.

The approval and governance requirements would continue to apply to significant benchmark administrators, critical benchmark administrators and, irrespective of significance, to administrators of the EU Paris-aligned Benchmark or EU Climate Transition Benchmarks.

Feedback on the proposed amendments to the EU BMR may be submitted to the European Commission until December 20, 2023. The proposals are intended to apply from January 1, 2026. This date aligns with the extension of the transitional date from December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2025 for third-country benchmarks to be used in the EU without the third-country benchmark administrator having obtained endorsement or recognition.

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