The European Securities and Markets Authority has approved the first four trade repositories for the region to start reporting derivatives data in February.

Esma said in a statement that four entities have been registered as trade repositories for the European Union:
– DTCC Derivatives Repository Ltd. (DDRL), the UK-based European arm of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the US clearer;
– Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartosciowych (KDPW) in Poland
– Regis-TR, based in Luxembourg and jointly owned by Deutsche Börse’s Clearstream and the Spanish Stock Exchange’s Iberclear
– UnaVista, owned by the London Stock Exchange Group and based in the UK.

The registrations take effect on November 14, 2013 with trade reporting starting on February 12, 2014.

Counterparties using an approved trade repository will meet their derivatives reporting obligations under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. The repositories cover all five derivative asset – credit, interest rate, equity, foreign exchange and commodities – and EMIR requires both counterparties to report over-the-counter and exchange-traded deals.

Steven Maijoor, ESMA chair, said in the statement: “Registering the first European trade repositories is an important component in making derivative markets more transparent and resilient.”

ESMA said it is processing more repository applications but declined to comment on the number.

The DTCC’s European derivatives repository is based in London with a data centre in the Netherlands. The ESMA registration adds to the US clearer’s licences in Japan and Singapore, which were both approved this year.

“Reporting for all five derivatives asset classes, which will commence simultaneously on 12 February 2014, will be a significant undertaking for the industry and the next 90 days will be crucial for achieving compliance with EMIR,” said Sandy Broderick, chief executive of DTCC Deriv/SERV in a statement.

To allow clients to connect quickly the DTCC has launched a self-registration portal which it said can be completed in minutes with activation within 24 hours. Derivatives dealers and end users can also report through a intermediaries or middleware providers that are connected to DTCC’s trade repository.

Mark Husler, chief executive of LSE’s UnaVista said in an email: “We will use our extensive experience from reporting over 1.5 billion transactions a year for MiFID, to assist our customers to be ready for the February go-live date.”

Husler said there had been a positive response from customers using its test environment and many have already signed up to the repository.

REGIS-TR, the repository owned by Clearstream and Iberclear said in a statement that customers will be able to report their trades through a user-friendly repository solution for all their derivatives trades in the EU. The firm will also provide reconciliation services, links to exposure management solutions and third-country domestic solutions.

Clearstream said in a statement today that last month the value of assets under custody held on behalf of customer was a record €11.8 trillion, compared to €11.1 trillion in October 2012.
Poland’s KDPW said it a statement that in November last year it became the first player in central and eastern Europe to open a trade repository and the ESMA registration will allow it to operate across the European Union.

“It is our contribution to the development of a strong capital hub in Warsaw,” said Iwona Sroka, KDPW president and chief executive in the statement.