ICE Futures Europe and the London Metal Exchange (LME) have until 3 July 2020 to comply with Article 35 and 36 of the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Mifir) after asking the FCA for more time to prepare.
Mifir was updated with new Mifid II rules on Wednesday which signal a pivotal moment for financial services across Europe.
Many warned financial firms would not be ready for the impending Mifid II changes with commentary focused on how prepared the industry was for the bombshell regulation.
The transitional arrangement means both ICE and LME will not have to consider open-access requests if they relate to exchange-traded derivatives for the next two years.
The FCA said: “Having taken into account the risks resulting from the application of the access rights under Article 36 as regards exchange-traded derivatives to the orderly functioning of the trading venues referred to above, as required by Mifir, the FCA has decided to agree a transitional arrangement for those entities.”
Firms within the EU are able to apply to regulators for transitional arrangements to help cope with the wide-reaching changes imposed by new rules.
Under Article 36 of Mifir, trading venues must provide full, transparent access to clearing houses (CCPs) looking to clear transactions executed via the venue.
ICE and LME will not have to provide this level of access until the transitional period has ended in July 2020.
