Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2251 is amended as follows:
(1)
the following Article 31a is inserted:
‘Article 31a
Treatment of physically settled foreign exchange forwards and physically settled foreign exchange swaps
By way of derogation from Article 2(2), counterparties may provide in their risk management procedures that variation margins are not required to be posted or collected for physically settled foreign exchange forward contracts and physically settled foreign exchange swap contracts where one of the counterparties is not an institution as defined in Article 4(1), point (3), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *1 ) or would not qualify as such an institution if it were established in the Union.
( *1 ) Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 ( OJ L 176, 27.6.2013, p. 1 ).’;"
(2)
Article 35 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2251 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 35
Transitional provisions
Counterparties referred to in Article 11(3) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 may continue to apply the risk-management procedures that they have in place on 18 February 2021 in respect of non-centrally cleared OTC derivative contracts entered into or novated between 16 August 2012 and the relevant dates of application of this Regulation.
Counterparties referred to in Article 11(3) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 may also continue to apply the risk-management procedures that they have in place on 18 February 2021 in respect of non-centrally cleared OTC derivative contracts fulfilling all of the following conditions:
(a)
the non-centrally cleared OTC derivative contracts have been entered into or novated either before the relevant dates of application of this Regulation as set out in Articles 36, 37 and 38 of this Regulation or 18 February 2021, whichever is earlier;
(b)
the non-centrally cleared OTC derivative contracts are novated for the sole purpose of replacing a counterparty established in the United Kingdom with a counterparty established in a Member State;
(c)
the non-centrally cleared OTC derivative contracts are novated between 1 January 2021 and either of the following, whichever is the later:
(i)
the relevant dates of application set out in Articles 36, 37 and 38 of this Regulation; or
(ii)
1 January 2022.’;
(3)
Article 36 is amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 1 is amended as follows:
(i)
point (e) is replaced by the following:
‘(e)
from 1 September 2021, where both counterparties have, or belong to groups each of which has, an aggregate average notional amount of non-centrally cleared derivatives that is above EUR 50 billion;’;
(ii)
the following point is added:
‘(f)
from 1 September 2022, where both counterparties have, or belong to groups each of which has, an aggregate average notional amount of non-centrally cleared derivatives that is above EUR 8 billion.’;
(b)
in paragraph 2, point (a) is replaced by the following:
‘(a)
from 30 June 2022 where no equivalence decision has been adopted pursuant to Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 for the purposes of Article 11(3) of that Regulation in respect of the relevant third country;’;
(4)
in Article 37(3), point (a) is replaced by the following:
‘(a)
from 30 June 2022 where no equivalence decision has been adopted pursuant to Article 13(2) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 for the purposes of Article 11(3) of that Regulation in respect of the relevant third country;’;
(5)
in Article 38, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
‘1. By way of derogation from Article 36(1) and Article 37, in respect of all non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives which are single-stock equity options or index options, the Articles referred to in Articles 36(1) and 37 shall apply from 4 January 2024.’.