Entry into application of the reporting mechanism provided for by European Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (EU) 2015/2365 (SFTR) has been pushed back from 13 April to 13 July 2020 for credit institutions and investment firms (cf. Financial Newsletter No. 40).

The ad hoc working group set up a year ago by AMAFI continues to be busy helping members get ready for the deadline. Regular meetings are being held to review firms’ readiness, discuss technical questions and talk about the tests currently being carried out. The SFTR group has put together a file that allows firms to specify how they are taking part in the tests being conducted by entities such as trade repositories and providers of technical solutions for SFT reconciliation.

All this work will help in preparing for the 13 July deadline, which remains a huge technical challenge for market participants, despite the postponement.