On November 13, 2018, ESMA launched a consultation on proposed Guidelines for Money Market Fund Managers, to assist them in complying with their obligations, under the Money Market Funds Regulation, to report information to the relevant national regulator of each MMF they manage. The reporting obligation applies on at least a quarterly basis (or annually for MMFs with total assets under management not exceeding Euro 100 million). The European Commission adopted Implementing Technical Standards in April 2018, which specify the content of a reporting template that will be developed for the information. The ITS have applied since July 21, 2018 and MMF managers must begin submitting reports under the MMF Regulation in the first quarter of 2020.
ESMA's consultation seeks views on draft Guidelines, including IT-related guidance, so that MMFs have all the necessary information to fill in the reporting template. The draft Guidelines set out general principles that apply to the entire MMF reporting and further guidance on reporting and reporting periods as well as the procedure for the first report for newly-authorized MMFs. The draft Guidelines then set out information and guidance on how to complete specific fields within the template.
ESMA invites comments on the draft Guidelines by February 14, 2019. It will then finalize the Guidelines. An application date for the Guidelines has not yet been set, but national regulators and financial market participants should make every effort to comply with them once in force.
The consultation paper is available at: https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/esma34-49-144novbos_cpon_mmfguidelinesreporting.pdf and details of the ITS are available at: https://finreg.shearman.com/implementing-technical-standards-published-for-re.
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