[ParlTrack]

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34

(34) This Regulation should take into account the Principles for financial benchmarks issued by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) on 17 July 2013 and the IOSCO Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies issued by IOSCO on 5 October 2012 (hereinafter referred to as ‘'IOSCO Principles’') ~~on the 17 July 2013~~ which serve as a global standards for regulatory requirements for benchmarks. It is necessary for investor protection that an assessment that the supervisions and regulation in any third country are equivalent to Union supervision and regulation of benchmarks takes place before any benchmark provided from that third country can be used in the Union.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34 a (new)

(34a) This Regulation introduces an endorsement regime allowing administrators located in the Union and authorised or registered in accordance with its provisions to endorse benchmarks provided in third countries, under certain conditions. Such an endorsement regime should be introduced for third country administrators that are affiliated or work closely with administrators located in the Union. An administrator that has endorsed benchmarks provided in a third country should be responsible for such endorsed benchmarks and ensure that they fulfil the relevant conditions referred to in this Regulation.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)

(ba) single price or single value reference; prices

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. This Regulation shall not apply to administrators of in respect of their noncritical benchmarks with respect to Articles 5(1a), 5(2a), 5(3b), 5(3c), 5(3d), 5a, 5b, 5d, 7, 7a, 8(1), 8(2), 9(1), 9(2), 11(2a), 11(2b), 17(1).

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 b (new)

2b. Where a noncritical benchmark is a commodity benchmark subject to the requirements set out in Annex Ia in accordance with Article 14a, points 5– 16 of Annex Ia of this Regulation shall not apply.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 11

(11) ‘'regulated data’' means: (i) input data ~~that is~~ contributed dentirectly from: (a) a trading venue as defined in point (254) of paragraph 1 of Article ~~2 of [MIFIR] or~~4 of Directive 2014/65/EU but only with reference to data concerning transactions of financial instruments; or (b) an approved publication arrangement as defined in point (1852) of paragraph 1 of Article 24 of ~~[MIFIR ] or an approved reporting arrangement~~Directive 2014/65/EU or a consolidated tape provider as defined in point (53) of paragraph 1 of Article 4 of Directive 2014/65/EU, in accordance with mandatory post-trade transparency requirements, but only with reference to data of transactions concerning financial instruments that are traded on a trading venue; or (c) an approved reporting mechanism as defined in point (2054) of paragraph 1 of Article ~~2 of [MIFIR]~~4 of Directive 2014/65/EU, but only with reference to data of transactions concerning financial instruments that are traded on a trading venue and that must be disclosed in accordance with mandatory post -trade ~~data~~transparency requirements; or (d) an electricity exchange as referred to in point (j) of paragraph 1 of Article 37 of Directive 2009/72/EC19; or (e) a natural gas exchange as referred to in point (j) of paragraph 1 of Article 41 of Directive 2009/73/EC20 or (f) an auction platform referred to in Article 26 or in Article 30 of Regulation (EU) No 1031/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council; or (ii) net asset values of the units of undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) as defined in Article 1(2) of Directive 2009/65/EU __________________ 19 OJ L 211, 14.8.2009, p. 55. 20 OJ L 9, 14.8.2009, p. 112.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 20

(20) ‘'commodity benchmark’' means a benchmark where the underlying asset for the purposes of point (1)(c) of this Article is a commodity within the meaning of point (21) of Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1287/200627 ; Emission allowances as defined in point (11) of Section C of Annex I of [MiFID] shall not be considered commodities for the purpose of this Regulation; __________________ 27 OJ L 241, 2.9.2006, p. 1.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 a (new)

Article 13a Mandatory Administration 1. If an administrator of a critical benchmark intends to cease producing its critical benchmark, it shall: (a) immediately notify its competent authority; and (b)within four weeks of such notification submit an assessment of how the benchmark is to be transitioned to a new administrator; or (c) within 4 weeks of such notification submit an assessment of how the benchmark is to be ceased to be produced, taking into account the procedure established in Article 17(1). During this period of time, the administrator shall not cease production of the benchmark. 2. Upon receipt of the assessment of the benchmark administrator referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authority shall within 4 weeks: (a) inform ESMA; and (b) make its own assessment of how the benchmark shall be transitioned to a new administrator or be ceased to be produced, taking into account the administrator's procedure for cessation of its benchmark established in accordance with Article 17(1). During this period of time, the administrator shall not cease production of the benchmark. 3. Following completion of the assessment under paragraph 2, the competent authority shall have the power to compel the administrator to continue publishing the benchmark until such a time: (a) as the provision of the benchmark has been transferred to a new administrator; or (b) as the benchmark can be ceased in an orderly fashion; or (c) as the benchmark is no longer critical. The competent authority may compel the administrator to continue to publish the benchmark for a limited period of time not exceeding 12 months, which the competent authority may extend where necessary by up to a further 12 months.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. The competent authority shall have the power to require the contributors which made the notification intending to cease contributing input data to continue to contribute input data until such time as the competent authority has completed its assessment and made a decision on taking a measure under paragraph 4a. The competent authority shall complete the assessment in no more than four weeks from the date that the notification to the competent authority was made.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 a

Article 14a Commodity Benchmarks 1. The specific requirements laid down in Annex Ia shall apply to commodity benchmarks unless the benchmark is based on regulated data in accordance with Article 12a or is based upon submissions from contributors, the majority of which are credit institutions. 2. The requirements of Title II with the exception of Article 6 apply to commodity benchmarks that are based on regulated data in accordance with Article 12a or upon submissions from contributors the majority of which are supervised entities excluding supervised entities where the main business of the group is not the provision of investment services within the meaning of Directive 2014/65/EU or banking activities under Directive 2013/36/EU. 3. For all other commodity benchmarks, Annex Ia shall apply. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adjust the requirements laid down in Annex Ia if necessary in the light of changes to the underlying international standards and principles for the governance of commodity benchmarks referred to in paragraph 1.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1

1. An administrator shall publish, together with the benchmark statement referred to in Article 15, a procedure concerning the actions to be taken by the administrator in the event of changes to or the cessation of a benchmark or the recognition of a benchmark pursuant to Article 21a or the endorsement pursuant to Article 21b. The procedure may be drafted, where applicable, for families of benchmarks and shall be updated and published whenever a material change occurs.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1

A supervised entity may use a benchmark or a combination of benchmarks in the Union as a reference in a financial ~~instrumen~~contract or financial ~~contrac~~instrument or to measure the performance of an investment fund if ~~it is~~they are provided by an administrators authorised or registered in accordance with Article 23 or an administrator located in a third country ~~that is registered in accordance with~~pursuant to Article [20], or Article [21a] or Article 21b.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 1 – introductory part

1. Benchmarks provided by an administrator ~~establish~~located in a third country may be used by supervised entities in the Union provided that the following conditions are ~~complied with~~met, unless Article 21a or Article 21b applies:

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 a (new)

Article 21a Recognition of an administrator located in a third country 1. Until such time as an equivalence decision in accordance with Article 20(2) is adopted, benchmarks provided by an administrator located in a third country may be used by supervised entities in the Union provided that the administrator acquires prior recognition by ESMA in accordance with this Article. 2. An administrator located in a third country intending to obtain prior recognition as referred to in paragraph 1 shall comply with all the requirements established in this Regulation except for Articles 11, 13a and 14. Where an administrator is able to demonstrate that a benchmark it provides is based on regulated data or is a commodity benchmark that is not based on submissions by contributors which are in majority supervised entities excluding supervised entities where the main business of the group is not the provision of investment services within the meaning of Directive 2014/65/EC or banking activities under Directive 2013/36/EC, the exemptions for such benchmarks, as provided for in Articles 12a and 14a respectively, shall apply to the administrator. 3. An administrator located in a third country intending to obtain prior recognition as referred to in paragraph 1 shall have a representative established in the Union. The representative shall be a natural person domiciled in the Union or a legal person with its registered office in the Union. The representative shall be expressly designated by the administrator located in a third country to act on its behalf concerning all communication with the authorities including ESMA and relevant competent authorities and any other relevant person in the Union with regard to the administrator's obligations under this Regulation. 4. An administrator located in a third country intending to obtain prior recognition as referred to in paragraph 1 shall apply for recognition with ESMA. The applicant administrator shall provide all information, as set out in Article 23 or Article 23a, necessary to satisfy ESMA that it has established, at the time of recognition, all the necessary arrangements to meet the requirements referred to in paragraph 2 and shall indicate the list of its actual or prospective benchmarks which may be used in the Union and the competent authority responsible for its supervision in the third country. Within [90] days of receiving the application referred to in the first subparagraph, ESMA, after consulting relevant competent authorities, shall verify that the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are fulfilled. ESMA may delegate this task to a relevant national competent authority. If ESMA considers that this is not the case, it shall refuse the recognition request explaining the reasons for the refusal. Without prejudice to the third subparagraph, no recognition shall be granted unless the following additional conditions are met: (i) an appropriate cooperation arrangement is in place between the relevant competent authority or ESMA and the third country authority of the administrator in order to ensure at least an efficient exchange of information; (ii) the effective exercise by the competent authority or ESMA of its supervisory functions under this Regulation is not prevented by the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the third country where the administrator is located. 5. Where an administrator located in a third country considers that a benchmark it provides may be entitled to the exemptions in Article 12a and 14a, it shall, without undue delay, notify ESMA thereof. It shall provide documentary evidence to support its assertion. 6. Where an administrator located in a third country considers that a benchmark it provides, the cessation of which would have a significant adverse impact on the integrity of markets, financial stability, consumers, the real economy, or the financing of households and corporations in one or more Member States, it may apply to ESMA for an exemption from one or more of the applicable requirements of this Regulation for a specific and limited period of time, not exceeding 12 months. It shall provide documentary evidence to support its application. ESMA shall consider the application within 30 days and inform the third country administrator whether it is exempt from one or more of the requirements as specified in its application and the length of time of the exemption. ESMA may extend the exemption period upon its expiry by up to a further 12 months where there is good reason to do so 7. ESMA shall develop draft regulatory technical standards to specify further the recognition process, in particular the form and content of the application referred to in paragraph 4, the presentation of the information required in paragraph 5 and any delegation of tasks and responsibilities to national competent authorities with respect to those paragraphs. ESMA shall submit those draft regulatory technical standards to the Commission by [...]. Power is delegated to the Commission to adopt the regulatory technical standards referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 b (new)

Article 21b Endorsement 1. An administrator located in the Union and authorised or registered in accordance with Article 23 may apply to its competent authority to endorse a benchmark or a family of benchmarks provided in a third country for their use in the Union, provided that the following conditions are met: (a) the endorsing administrator has verified and is able to demonstrate on an on-going basis to its competent authority that the provision of the benchmark or family of benchmarks to be endorsed fulfils requirements which are at least as stringent as the requirements set out in this Regulation; (b) the endorsing administrator has the necessary expertise to monitor the benchmark provision activities performed in a third country effectively and to manage the risks associated; 2. The applicant administrator shall provide all information necessary to satisfy the competent authority that, at the time of application, all the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 are fulfilled. 3. Within 90 days of receipt of the application, the relevant competent authority shall examine the application for an endorsement and adopt a decision to approve or refuse it.. The relevant competent authority shall notify ESMA of any benchmarks or families of benchmarks that have been approved for endorsement and the endorsing administrator. 4. A benchmark or family of benchmarks endorsed shall be considered to be a benchmark or family of benchmarks provided by the endorsing administrator. 5. The administrator that has endorsed a benchmark or family of benchmarks provided in a third country shall remain responsible for ensuring the endorsed benchmark or family of benchmarks fulfil the conditions set out in paragraph 1. 6. Whenever the competent authority of the endorsing administrator has well- founded reasons to consider that the conditions laid down under paragraph 1 are no longer fulfilled it shall have the power to withdraw its approval of the endorsement and shall inform ESMA. Article 17 shall apply in case of cessation of the endorsement.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 – paragraph 1 – point b

(b) has obtained the authorisation or registration, or has endorsed a benchmark in accordance with Article 21b by making false statements or by any other irregular means;

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 a (new)

Article 25a Administrators´ Register 1. ESMA shall establish and maintain a public register that contains the following information: (a) the identities of the administrators authorised or registered under the provisions of Article 23 and the competent authority responsible for the supervision; (b) the identities of the administrators that have notified ESMA of their consent referred to in Article 20(1)(c) and the third-country competent authority responsible for the supervision; (c) the identities of the administrators that acquired recognition in accordance with Article 21a and the third-country competent authority responsible for the supervision; (d) the benchmarks that are endorsed in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21b and the identities of the endorsing administrators.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 34 – paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Any measure taken under Article 14 must remain in force at least until there is agreement by the college, pursuant to paragraphs 8a and 9a.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Article 40 – paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. The Commission shall review the evolution of international principles applicable to benchmarks and of legal frameworks and supervisory practices in third countries concerning the provision of benchmarks and report to the Parliament and to the Council every four years after the date of the entry into force of this Regulation. This report shall be accompanied by a legislative proposal, if appropriate.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN

Proposal for a regulation
Annex I a (new)

ANNEX Ia Methodology 1. The administrator shall formalise, document, and make public any methodology that it uses for a benchmark calculation. At a minimum, a methodology shall contain and describe: (a) all criteria and procedures that are used to develop the benchmark, including how the administrator uses the input data including the specific volume, concluded and reported transactions, bids, offers and any other market information in its assessment or assessment time periods or windows, why a specific reference unit is used, how the administrator collects such input data, the guidelines that control the exercise of judgment by assessors and any other information, such as assumptions, models or extrapolation from collected data that are considered in making an assessment; (b) its procedures and practices that are designed to ensure consistency between its assessors in exercising their judgment; (c) the relative importance that shall be assigned to each criterion used in benchmark calculation, in particular the type of input data used, and the type of criterion used to guide judgement so as to ensure the quality and integrity of the benchmark calculation; (d) criteria that identify the minimum amount of transaction data required for a particular benchmark calculation. If no such minimum threshold is established, the reasons why not shall be explained, including setting out the procedures that will apply in circumstances where there is no transaction data; (e) criteria that address the assessment periods where the submitted data fall below the methodology's recommended transaction data threshold or the requisite administrator's quality standards, including any alternative methods of assessment including theoretical estimation models. These criteria shall explain the procedures used where no transaction data exist; (f) criteria for timeliness of contributions of input data and the means for such contributions of input data whether electronically, by telephone, or otherwise; (g) criteria and procedures that address assessment periods where one or more contributors submit input data that constitute a significant proportion of the total input data for that benchmark. The administrator shall also define in its criteria and procedures for what constitutes a significant proportion for each benchmark calculation; (h) criteria according to which transaction data may be excluded from a benchmark calculation. 2. The administrator shall disclose to the public, by means that ensure fair and easy access, including on its website, the methodology it uses for each of the benchmarks produced and published or, when applicable, for each family of benchmarks produced and published. 3. The administrator shall also describe and publish : (a) the rationale for adopting a particular methodology, including any price adjustment techniques and a justification of why the time period or window within which input data is accepted is a reliable indicator of physical market values; (b) the procedure for internal review and approval of a given methodology, as well as the frequency of this review; and (c) the procedure for external review of a given methodology, including the procedures to gain market acceptance of the methodology through consultation with users on important changes to their benchmark calculation processes. Accountability 4. For a noncritical benchmark, the administrator shall publish and maintain a compliance statement for each benchmark or family of benchmarks. In the compliance statement, the administrator shall report on the administrator´s compliance with the benchmark methodology and this Regulation, in particular with the requirements of this Annex, with the exception of point 1, 1a, 2. Where the administrator does not comply with the provisions set out in the relevant sections of this Annex, the compliance statement will clearly establish why such deviation is appropriate. The administrator shall appoint an independent external auditor to review, and report on, the accuracy of the administrator´s compliance statement. Such an audit shall take place at least every two years and whenever material changes to the benchmark have occurred. Changes to methodology 5. The administrator shall adopt and make public to its users clear procedures and the rationale for any proposed material change in its methodology. Those procedures shall be consistent with the overriding objective that an administrator must ensure the continued integrity of its benchmark calculations and implement changes for the good order of the particular market to which such changes relate. Such procedures shall provide: (a) advance notice in a clear timeframe that gives users sufficient opportunity to analyse and comment on the impact of such proposed changes, having regard to the administrator's calculation of the overall circumstances; (b) for users' comments, and the administrator's response to those comments, to be made accessible to all market users after any given consultation period, except where the commenter has requested confidentiality. 6. The administrator shall regularly examine its methodologies for the purpose of ensuring that they reliably reflect the physical market under assessment and shall include a process for taking into account the views of relevant users. Quality and integrity of benchmark calculations 7. The administrator shall: (a) specify the criteria that define the physical commodity that is the subject of a particular methodology; (b) give priority to input data in the following order, where consistent with the administrator's methodologies: (i) concluded and reported transactions; (ii) bids and offers; (iii) other information. If concluded and reported transactions are not given priority, the reasons for this should be explained pursuant to point 6(b). (c) employ sufficient measures designed to use input data, reflecting bona fide transactions, ensuring that transactions have been executed at arm's length and particular attention is paid to inter- affiliate transactions; (d) establish and employ procedures to identify anomalous or suspicious transaction data and keep records of decisions to exclude transaction data from the administrator's benchmark calculation process; (e) encourage contributors to submit all of their input data that falls within the administrator's criteria for that calculation. Administrators shall seek, so far as they are able and is reasonable, to ensure that data submitted are representative of a contributor's actual concluded transactions; and (f) employ a system of appropriate measures so that, to the extent possible, contributors comply with an administrator's quality and integrity standards for input data. 8. The administrator shall describe and publish with each calculation, to the extent reasonable and without prejudicing due publication of the benchmark: (a) a concise explanation, sufficient to facilitate a benchmark subscriber's or competent authority's ability to understand how the calculation was developed including, at a minimum, the size and liquidity of the physical market being assessed (such as the number and volume of transactions submitted), the range and average volume and range and average price, and indicative percentages of each type of input data that have been considered in a calculation; terms referring to the pricing methodology shall be included such as "transaction-based", "spread-based" or "interpolated or extrapolated"; (b) a concise explanation of the extent to which, and the basis upon which, any judgement including the exclusion of data which otherwise conformed to the requirements of the relevant methodology for that calculation, basing prices on spreads or interpolation, extrapolation, or weighting bids or offers higher than concluded transactions, if any, was exercised in any calculation. Integrity of the Reporting Process 9. The administrator shall: (a) specify the criteria that define who may submit input data to the administrator; (b) have quality control procedures in place to evaluate the identity of a contributor and any employee of a contributor who reports input data and the authorisation of such person to report input data on behalf of a contributor; (c) specify the criteria applied to employees of a contributor who are permitted to submit input data to an administrator on behalf of a contributor; (d) encourage contributors to submit transaction data from back office functions and seek corroborating data from other sources where transaction data is received directly from a trader; and (e) implement internal controls and written procedures to identify communications between contributors and assessors that attempt to influence a calculation for the benefit of any trading position (whether of the contributor, its employees or any third party), attempt to cause an assessor to infringe the administrator's rules or guidelines or identify contributors that engage in a pattern of submitting anomalous or suspicious transaction data. Those procedures shall include provision for escalation by the administrator of inquiry within the contributor's company. Controls shall include cross-checking market indicators to validate submitted information. Assessors 10. In relation to the role of an assessor, the administrator shall: (a) adopt and have explicit internal rules and guidelines for selecting assessors, including their minimum level of training, experience and skills, as well as the process for periodic review of their competence; (b) have arrangements in place to ensure that calculations can be made on a consistent and regular basis; (c) maintain continuity and succession planning in respect of its assessors in order to ensure that calculations are made consistently and by employees who possess the relevant levels of expertise; (d) institute internal control procedures to ensure the integrity and reliability of calculations. At a minimum, such internal controls and procedures shall require the on-going supervision of assessors to ensure that the methodology was properly applied. Audit Trails 11. The administrator shall have rules and procedures in place to document contemporaneously relevant information, including: (a) all input data; (b) the judgements that are made by assessors in reaching each benchmark calculation; (c) whether a calculation excluded a particular transaction which otherwise conformed to the requirements of the relevant methodology for that calculation, and the rationale for doing so; (d) the identity of each assessor and of any other person who submitted or otherwise generated any of the information in points (a), (b) or (c). 12. The administrator shall have rules and procedures in place to ensure that an audit trail of relevant information is retained for at least five years in order to document the construction of its calculations. Conflicts of interest 13. The administrator shall establish adequate policies and procedures for the identification, disclosure, management, mitigation, and avoidance of conflicts of interest and the protection of the integrity and independence of calculations. These policies and procedures shall be reviewed and updated regularly and shall: (a) ensure that benchmark calculations are not influenced by the existence of, or potential for, a commercial or personal business relationship or interest between the administrator or its affiliates, its personnel, clients, any market participant or persons connected with them; (b) ensure that the administrator personnel's personal interests and business connections are not permitted to compromise the administrator's functions, including outside employment, travel, and acceptance of entertainment, gifts and hospitality provided by the administrator's clients or other commodity market participants; (c) ensure, in respect of identified conflicts, an appropriate segregation of functions within the administrator by way of supervision, compensation, systems access and information flows; (d) protect the confidentiality of information submitted to or produced by the administrator, subject to the disclosure obligations of the administrator; (e) prohibit administrator managers, assessors and other employees from contributing to a benchmark calculation by way of engaging in bids, offers and trades on either a personal basis or on behalf of market participants; (f) effectively address identified conflicts of interest which may exist between benchmark provision by the administrator (including all employees who perform or otherwise participate in benchmark calculation responsibilities), and any other business of the administrator. 14. The administrator shall ensure that its other business operations have in place appropriate procedures and mechanisms designed to minimise the likelihood that conflicts of interest will affect the integrity of benchmark calculations. 15. The administrator shall ensure that it has segregated reporting lines amongst its managers, assessors and other employees and from the managers to the administrator's most senior level management and its board to ensure: (a) that the administrator satisfactorily implements the requirements of this Regulation; and (b) that responsibilities are clearly defined and do not conflict or cause a perception of conflict. 16. The administrator shall disclose to its users as soon as it becomes aware of a conflict of interest arising from the ownership of the administrator. Complaints 17. The administrator shall have in place and publish written procedures for receiving, investigating and retaining records concerning complaints made about an administrator's calculation process. Such a complaint mechanism shall ensure that: (a) an administrator shall have in place a mechanism detailed in a written complaints handling policy, through which its subscribers may submit complaints on whether a specific benchmark calculation is representative of market value, proposed benchmark calculation changes, applications of methodology in relation to a specific benchmark calculation and other editorial decisions in relation to the benchmark calculation processes; (b) there is a process and target timetable for handling of complaints; (c) formal complaints made against an administrator and its personnel are investigated by that administrator in a timely and fair manner; (d) the inquiry is conducted independently of any personnel who may be involved in the subject of the complaint; (e) an administrator shall aim to complete its investigation promptly; (f) an administrator shall advise the complainant and any other relevant parties of the outcome of the investigation in writing and within a reasonable period; (g) there is recourse to an independent third party appointed by the administrator, no later than six months from the time of the original complaints, if a complainant is dissatisfied with the way a complaint has been handled by the relevant administrator or with the administrator's decision; and (h) all documents relating to a complaint, including those submitted by the complainant as well as an administrator's own record, are retained for a minimum of five years. 18. Disputes as to daily pricing determinations, which are not formal complaints, shall be resolved by the administrator with reference to its standard appropriate procedures. If a complaint results in a change in price, that shall be communicated to the market as soon as possible.

2015/01/23
Committee: ECON

Activities of Cora van NIEUWENHUIZEN related to 2013/0314(COD)

Plenary speeches (4)

Reports (1)

Amendments (20)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024