On November 20, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published an updated version of its Questions & Answers (Q&As) on European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) implementation. The Q&As aim to promote common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of EMIR.

Part III of the Q&As concerns trade repositories and has been amended as follows:

• A new Trade Repository (TR) Q&A 24(b) has been added regarding buy/sell indicators. ESMA states that, in the case of foreign exchange swaps and cross-currency swaps, where multiple exchanges of currencies take place, the relevant point in time for the determination of the buyer and seller should be the far leg, which is closer to the maturity date.

• TR Q&A 40 has been modified, which concerns updating legal entity identifiers (LEIs) as a result of mergers or acquisitions. This answer has been modified to clarify that, to the extent possible, the reporting entity should provide the required information in advance so that the change is not done retrospectively, but by the date on which it takes place.

• TR Q&A 44 has also been modified, concerning the validation of reports relating to old outstanding trades. This answer now clarifies that counterparties will provide all applicable data elements for a type of action, which is new when sending “Modification” or “Correction” reports for the first time upon the applicate date of the revised technical standards.