EU provisional agreement on regulation amending the Benchmarks Regulation

The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on the proposed Regulation amending the Benchmark Regulation. The proposed Regulation will amend the scope of the benchmark rules, the use of benchmarks provided by a third-country administrator, and certain reporting requirements. The Council and EP agreed:

• To reduce the regulatory burden on administrators of non-significant benchmarks by removing them from the scope of current rules.
• That only those benchmarks defined as critical or significant, EU Paris-aligned benchmarks, EU Climate Transition benchmarks, and certain commodity benchmarks should remain in scope. In addition, there will be the option for out-of-scope administrators to opt-in voluntarily under certain conditions.
• To add further qualitative criteria to the calculation methodology for significant benchmarks.
• To grant extended competence to European Securities and Markets Authority for supervising the endorsement of administrators.
• That supervised entities would only be allowed to use EU and third-country benchmarks that claim to take ESG factors into account in their methodology if the benchmark administrator discloses certain information.
• To keep a specific exemption regime for spot foreign exchange benchmarks in the rules.

The provisional agreement needs to be confirmed by both institutions before being prepared for formal adoption. Once formally adopted, the final text will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and should enter into force, and apply from January 1, 2026.

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