TITLE II

CLEARING, REPORTING AND RISK MITIGATION OF OTC DERIVATIVES

Clearing obligation
Article 4
1
Counterparties shall clear all OTC derivative contracts pertaining to a class of OTC derivatives that has been declared subject to the clearing obligation in accordance with Article 5(2), if those contracts fulfil both of the following conditions:
a
they have been concluded in one of the following ways:
1. between two financial counterparties;
2. between a financial counterparty and a non-financial counterparty that meets the conditions referred to in Article 10(1)(b);
3. between two non-financial counterparties that meet the conditions referred to in Article 10(1)(b);
4. between a financial counterparty or a non-financial counterparty meeting the conditions referred to in Article 10(1)(b) and an entity established in a third country that would be subject to the clearing obligation if it were established in the Union; or
5. between two entities established in one or more third countries that would be subject to the clearing obligation if they were established in the Union, provided that the contract has a direct, substantial and foreseeable effect within the Union or where such an obligation is necessary or appropriate to prevent the evasion of any provisions of this Regulation; and
b
they are entered into or novated either:
1. on or after the date from which the clearing obligation takes effect; or
2. on or after notification as referred to in Article 5(1) but before the date from which the clearing obligation takes effect if the contracts have a remaining maturity higher than the minimum remaining maturity determined by the Commission in accordance with Article 5(2)(c).
2
Without prejudice to risk-mitigation techniques under Article 11, OTC derivative contracts that are intragroup transactions as described in Article 3 shall not be subject to the clearing obligation.
The exemption set out in the first subparagraph shall apply only:
a
where two counterparties established in the Union belonging to the same group have first notified their respective competent authorities in writing that they intend to make use of the exemption for the OTC derivative contracts concluded between each other. The notification shall be made not less than 30 calendar days before the use of the exemption. Within 30 calendar days after receipt of that notification, the competent authorities may object to the use of this exemption if the transactions between the counterparties do not meet the conditions laid down in Article 3, without prejudice to the right of the competent authorities to object after that period of 30 calendar days has expired where those conditions are no longer met. If there is disagreement between the competent authorities, ESMA may assist those authorities in reaching an agreement in accordance with its powers under Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010;
b
to OTC derivative contracts between two counterparties belonging to the same group which are established in a Member State and in a third country, where the counterparty established in the Union has been authorised to apply the exemption by its competent authority within 30 calendar days after it has been notified by the counterparty established in the Union, provided that the conditions laid down in Article 3 are met. The competent authority shall notify ESMA of that decision.
3
The OTC derivative contracts that are subject to the clearing obligation pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be cleared in a CCP authorised under Article 14 or recognised under Article 25 to clear that class of OTC derivatives and listed in the register in accordance with Article 6(2)(b).
For that purpose a counterparty shall become a clearing member, a client, or shall establish indirect clearing arrangements with a clearing member, provided that those arrangements do not increase counterparty risk and ensure that the assets and positions of the counterparty benefit from protection with equivalent effect to that referred to in Articles 39 and 48.
4
In order to ensure consistent application of this Article, ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards specifying the contracts that are considered to have a direct, substantial and foreseeable effect within the Union or the cases where it is necessary or appropriate to prevent the evasion of any provision of this Regulation as referred to in paragraph 1(a)(v), and the types of indirect contractual arrangements that meet the conditions referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 3.
ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by 30 September 2012.
Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.