Amundi slams ESMA for trade repository failures

Amundi also raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest created from the trade repository fee scheme.

French asset manager, Amundi, has raised concerns with the EU watchdog about its failures to handle data collected from trade repository (TR) reporting.

In a response to the European Securities and Market Authority’s (ESMA) recent consultation on TRs, Amundi highlighted its dismay at the regulator’s confession that it is struggling to confirm figures on trade reports.

ESMA’s TR consultation said: “with regards to the number of reported trades and the number of outstanding trades ESMA has found certain difficulties to ensure consistency and comparability of data across all TRs.”

Amundi replied explaining it is “appalled the entire framework developed with mandatory reporting to regulated TRs does not work.”

“We do not understand how there can be after several years of functioning difficulties in obtaining a clear view on the number of reported trades and the number of outstanding trades.

“We urge ESMA to take steps and make sure that the burdensome obligation to report that we have as asset managers is not useless,” Amundi said.

Amundi also raised concerns that the current TR fee scheme is creating conflicts of interest between the subsided regulator and the paying regulated firms. 

“ESMA is dependent on the contributions of TRs for 6% of its budget… we do not like the principle that the regulator’s cost are passed on to the supervised entities,” Amundi said.

Amundi has urged ESMA to reinforce its governance on the determination of costs passed onto TRs. 

«