Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU and Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (Text with EEA relevance)

Article 33U.K.Endorsement of benchmarks provided in a third country

1.An administrator located in the [F1United Kingdom] and authorised or registered in accordance with Article 34, or any other supervised entity located in the [F1United Kingdom] with a clear and well-defined role within the control or accountability framework of a third country administrator, which is able to monitor effectively the provision of a benchmark, may apply to the [F2FCA] to endorse a benchmark or a family of benchmarks provided in a third country for their use in the [F1United Kingdom], provided that all of the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a)the endorsing administrator or other supervised entity has verified and is able to demonstrate on an on-going basis to [F3the FCA] that the provision of the benchmark or family of benchmarks to be endorsed fulfils, on a mandatory or on a voluntary basis, requirements which are at least as stringent as the requirements of this Regulation;

(b)the endorsing administrator or other supervised entity has the necessary expertise to monitor effectively the activity of the provision of a benchmark in a third country and to manage the associated risks;

(c)there is an objective reason to provide the benchmark or family of benchmarks in a third country and for said benchmark or family of benchmarks to be endorsed for their use in the [F4United Kingdom].

For the purpose of point (a), when assessing whether the provision of the benchmark or family of benchmarks to be endorsed fulfils requirements which are at least as stringent as the requirements of this Regulation, the [F5FCA] may take into account whether the compliance of the provision of the benchmark or family of benchmarks with the IOSCO principles for financial benchmarks or the IOSCO principles for PRAs, as applicable, would be equivalent to compliance with the requirements of this Regulation.

2.An administrator or other supervised entity that makes an application for endorsement as referred to in paragraph 1 shall provide all information necessary to satisfy the [F6FCA] that, at the time of application, all the conditions referred to in that paragraph are fulfilled.

3.Within 90 working days of receipt of the application for endorsement referred to in paragraph 1, the [F7FCA] shall examine the application and adopt a decision either to authorise the endorsement or to refuse it. F8...

4.An endorsed benchmark or an endorsed family of benchmarks shall be considered to be a benchmark or family of benchmarks provided by the endorsing administrator or other supervised entity. The endorsing administrator or other supervised entity shall not use the endorsement with the intention of avoiding the requirements of this Regulation.

5.An administrator or other supervised entity that has endorsed a benchmark or a family of benchmarks provided in a third country shall remain fully responsible for such a benchmark or family of benchmarks and for compliance with the obligations under this Regulation.

6.Where the [F9FCA] has well-founded reasons to consider that the conditions laid down under paragraph 1 of this Article are no longer fulfilled, it shall have the power to require the endorsing administrator or other supervised entity to cease the endorsement F10.... Article 28 shall apply in case of cessation of the endorsement.

7.The [F11Treasury may make regulations] to determine the conditions under which the [F12FCA] may assess whether there is an objective reason for the provision of a benchmark or family of benchmarks in a third country and their endorsement for their use in the [F13United Kingdom]. [F14When determining the conditions, the Treasury] shall take into account elements such as the specificities of the underlying market or economic reality the benchmark intends to measure, the need for proximity of the provision of the benchmark to such market or economic reality, the need for proximity of the provision of the benchmark to contributors, the material availability of input data due to different time zones, and specific skills required in the provision of the benchmark.