The European Commission (EC) has adopted a decision declaring that a number of US exchanges supervised by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) are equivalent to EU regulated markets. Derivatives traded on such US exchanges will therefore now be treated as exchange-traded derivatives under EU law.
The EC has also amended its equivalence decision regarding US central counterparties (US CCPs) to cover products such as mortgage-backed securities issued and guaranteed by certain government sponsored agencies traded on a “To-Be-Announced basis”.
A number of US CCPs supervised by the SEC have already applied to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for recognition based on the equivalence decision adopted in 2021. The EC decisions will allow ESMA to further its work on the recognition process. Successful completion of the recognition process would mean that these US CCPs will be allowed to provide central clearing services to EU clearing members and trading venues in the EU.