ESMA and ASIC expected Australian cooperation

It was not that long ago that European financial regulator ESMA (European and Markets Authority) imposed a restriction for brokers to give out bonuses for deposits. That happened after some of the EU countries, like Belgium, decided to ban any promotion of binary options.

Not only it affected the ability of traders to get any bonuses from brokers, but it also imposed new rules on withdrawals, which will now take longer to receive if you are using bank transfers to do so.

However, new ESMA regulations had little effect in other countries. There were still thousands of traders that could benefit from the hot XM no deposit bonus promo and kick start their trading journey with an account preloaded with 250 ZAR, which is an equivalent of 30 USD.

Australian benchmarks & ESMA/ASIC cooperation
On October 20, ESMA and Australian regulator ASIC (the Australian Securities and Investments Commission) announced that they have successfully signed a Memorandum of Australian benchmarks.

Earlier this year, in June, Australia’s legal and supervisory framework was recognized as equivalent to corresponding requirements under the EU Benchmarks Regulation. That allowed EU-supervised entities to use benchmarks declared significant by ASIC.

The EU Benchmark Regulation (BMR), in turn, unites a European common framework to provide the integrity of benchmarks used with the EU borders.

Australia’s legal and supervisory framework applicable to financial benchmarks that correspond to the BMR requirements was recognized by the European Commission.

Significance of MoU
The agreement is very important, as MoU ensures appropriate cooperation arrangements to be set out. That should complement the EU’s equivalence decision and ensure effective information exchange between members.

Comments
ASIC Chair, James Shipton declared:
“Enhancing and improving regulatory cooperation with our international counterparts is a priority for ASIC…”

“We are very pleased to announce this agreement and look forward to our cooperation with ESMA in the future. When we provide mutual assistance to each other and exchange views and information, this helps ASIC to achieve its vision for a fair, strong, and efficient financial system for all Australians.”

While ESMA Chair, Steven Maijoor, said:
“The use of financial benchmarks in global capital markets is important for market participants and their accuracy and reliability need to be ensured at all times. In order to help regulators achieving these objectives, I am pleased that the ESMA-ASIC Memorandum of Understanding will support European regulators and ASIC to work together on a sound legal basis.”