(1)

Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 has been amended by Regulation (EU) 2019/2099 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2). Those amendments have introduced into Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, inter alia, an empowerment for the Commission to specify further the rules of procedure for the exercise by the European Securities and Markets Authority (‘ESMA’) of the power to impose fines or periodic penalty payments on third-country central counterparties (‘third-country CCPs’) and related third parties to whom third-country CCPs have outsourced operational functions or activities (‘related third parties’). In particular, those rules of procedures should include provisions on the rights of the defence, temporal provisions, and the collection of fines or periodic penalty payments and the limitation periods for the imposition and enforcement of penalties.

(2)

Article 41(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union recognises the right of every person to be heard before any individual measure is taken which would affect him or her adversely, and the right of every person to have access to his or her file, while respecting the legitimate interests of confidentiality and of professional and business secrecy.

(3)

To ensure that the rights of defence of third-country CCPs and related third parties subject to actions by ESMA are respected and to ensure that ESMA takes all relevant facts into account when adopting enforcement decisions, ESMA should hear the third-country CCP or related third parties or any other persons concerned. Third-country CCPs and related third parties should therefore have the right to make written submissions in response to statements of findings issued by the investigation officer and ESMA, including in case of material changes in the initial statement of findings. The investigation officer and ESMA should also have the possibility to invite third-country CCPs and related third parties to provide further explanations at an oral hearing where the investigation officer or ESMA consider that some elements of the written submissions made to the investigation officer or to ESMA are not sufficiently clear or detailed, and that further explanation is needed.

(4)

It is important that transparency is ensured between the investigation officer appointed by ESMA in accordance with Article 25i of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 and ESMA itself. Such transparency requires that the investigation officer’s file, in addition to the statement of findings, contains any submissions made by the third-country CCPs or related third parties, the statement of findings on the basis on which those third-country CCPs or related third parties provided their submissions, and the minutes of any oral hearing.

(5)

According to the second subparagraph of Article 25l(1) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, ESMA has the possibility to adopt, where urgent action is needed, interim decisions imposing fines or periodic penalty payments without first hearing the persons subject to an investigation or proceedings. To ensure the effectiveness of ESMA’s power to adopt interim decisions, the third-country CCPs and related third parties subject to an investigation should not have the right to access the file or to be heard before the investigation officer has submitted the file with his or her findings to ESMA or before ESMA has adopted its interim decision. However, to respect the rights of defence, the third-country CCPs and related third parties should have the right to access the file as soon as the investigation officer has submitted the file with his or her statement of findings to ESMA, and the right to be heard as soon as possible after ESMA has adopted its interim decision.

(6)

For reasons of consistency, limitation periods for the imposition and enforcement of fines or periodic penalty payments should take into account existing Union legislation applicable to the imposition and enforcement of penalties on supervised entities, ESMA’s experience in applying such legislation in relation to trade repositories under Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, the fact that third-country CCPs are located outside the Union and the need for ESMA to coordinate with authorities in such third-country jurisdictions in relation to enforcement actions. Limitation periods should be calculated in accordance with existing Union legislation for acts of the Council and the Commission, and in particular with Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71 of the Council (3).

(7)

According to Article 25m(5) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, the amounts corresponding to the fines and periodic penalty payments collected by ESMA are to be allocated to the general budget of the Union. Fines and periodic penalty payments collected by ESMA should be lodged to interest bearing accounts until they become final. For each decision imposing fines or periodic penalty payments, the amounts collected by ESMA should be lodged to a separate account or subaccount to ensure traceability until that decision becomes final.

(8)

In the interest of the immediate exercise by ESMA of effective supervisory and enforcement powers, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency,