A CCP shall invest its financial resources only in cash or in highly liquid financial instruments with minimal market and credit risk. A CCP’s investments shall be capable of being liquidated rapidly with minimal adverse price effect.

The amount of capital, including retained earnings and reserves of a CCP which are not invested in accordance with paragraph 1, shall not be taken into account for the purposes of Article 16(2) or Article 45(4).

Financial instruments posted as margins or as default fund contributions shall, where available, be deposited with operators of securities settlement systems that ensure the full protection of those financial instruments. Alternatively, other highly secure arrangements with authorised financial institutions may be used.

Cash deposits of a CCP shall be performed through highly secure arrangements with authorised financial institutions or, alternatively, through the use of the standing deposit facilities of central banks or other comparable means provided for by central banks.

Where a CCP deposits assets with a third party, it shall ensure that the assets belonging to the clearing members are identifiable separately from the assets belonging to the CCP and from assets belonging to that third party by means of differently titled accounts on the books of the third party or any other equivalent measures that achieve the same level of protection. A CCP shall have prompt access to the financial instruments when required.

A CCP shall not invest its capital or the sums arising from the requirements laid down in Article 41, 42, 43 or 44 in its own securities or those of its parent undertaking or its subsidiary.

A CCP shall take into account its overall credit risk exposures to individual obligors in making its investment decisions and shall ensure that its overall risk exposure to any individual obligor remains within acceptable concentration limits.

In order to ensure consistent application of this Article, ESMA shall, after consulting EBA and the ESCB, develop draft regulatory technical standards specifying the financial instruments that can be considered highly liquid, bearing minimal credit and market risk as referred to in paragraph 1, the highly secured arrangements referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 and the concentration limits referred to in paragraph 7.