Regulating Financial Benchmarks for European Transactions

This webinar will focus on the impact the new European Benchmark Regulation is having on index providers globally. The regulation came into force in June 2016 and most of its provisions came into effect at the start of 2018. The regulation establishes a new regime for the authorization and supervision of administrators (including non-EU administrators) of financial benchmarks that are used in the EU. We will consider the likely impact of the regulation on the EU financial markets and look in detail at certain issues raised by market participants including:

• Timetable for benchmark administrators to be authorized under the regulation and to what extent can administrators of pre-existing benchmarks rely on “grandfathering” relief up until 2020?
• What indices are within the scope of the regulation and when will an index be regarded as “available to the public”?
• What is meant by “use” of a benchmark in the EU?
• Are there any regulatory obligations for entities that contribute benchmark data?
• What is the impact of Brexit on UK benchmark administrators?