The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today issued a notice of a call for low value tenders, stating its wish to produce a strategy for its work from 2016 to 2020.
On this basis, the European continental regulatory authority seeks assistance from industry participants both with its development and with its final drafting. Nothing is unusual about seeking the assistance of firms in the industry whose expertise is invaluable, however ESMA has taken a step which is indeed unusual with regard to the method by which it will go about this consultation.
According to ESMA, the cost of the services to be rendered is estimated to be 60,000 euros as a maximum figure, which will serve as remuneration for assisting with the development of the final drafting.
As the European Commission follows in the footprint of North America‘s reformation of OTC derivatives markets which was completed last year, many factors are currently being implement which resemble those of the US regulations, including the requirement to process OTC trades via a central counterparty, as well as an entire framework of trade reporting regulations.
In requesting companies to submit their tender, ESMA is demonstrating that it is willing to compensate firms for their input in providing expertise in order to shape the regulatory strategy over a four year period, a measure which is relatively rare among regulatory authorities, which often seek the assistance of corporations which operate in the electronic trading sector without remuneration, as the resultant rulings would by default serve to bind them or benefit them.