ASC And Other Securities Regulators Issue Limited Blanket Relief From Certain Derivatives Trade Reporting Requirements

The securities regulatory authorities in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan are providing discretionary relief  from certain requirements Multilateral Instrument 96-101 Trade Repositories and Derivatives Data Reporting (MI 96-101).  Blanket Order 96-501 Relief from Certain Derivatives Reporting Requirements (Blanket Order 96-501) exempts reporting counterparties from some requirements of MI 96-101 where reporting counterparties are unable to obtain certain information from their counterparties and where foreign laws prevent or hinder reporting.

Under Blanket Order 96-501, a reporting counterparty is exempted from:

• the data reporting requirement if, among other conditions, the reporting counterparty does not receive information to allow it to determine whether the non-reporting counterparty is a local counterparty (other than a derivatives dealer);
• the requirement to report the derivatives data prescribed in the "Identifier of non-reporting counterparty" data field set out in Appendix A to MI 96-101, if, among other conditions, the reporting of the applicable data is restricted by law.  Blanket Order 96-501 provides a similar exemption where the consent of the non-reporting counterparty is required by law and the reporting counterparty has not obtained consent;
• the requirement to report the LEI of the non-reporting counterparty where the reporting counterparty is not able to obtain the LEI, despite its best efforts; and
• the requirement to report the derivatives data prescribed in the "Broker/Clearing intermediary" data field set out in Appendix A to MI 96-101, if, among other conditions, the reporting counterparty has not obtained  the LEI of its broker or clearing intermediary.

The securities regulatory authorities in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island and Yukon have not issued Blanket Order 96-501 but staff of the securities commissions of those jurisdictions have advised that similar relief will be issued prior to the trade reporting obligations coming into force.

For further information, please see Multilateral CSA Staff Notice 96-301 Matters related to the coming into force of Multilateral Instrument 91-101 Derivatives: Product Determination and Multilateral Instrument 96-101 Trade Repositories and Derivatives Data Reporting.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.