Revocation of retained EU law Transitional amendments Amendments to the Central Counterparties (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018
The UK’s regulatory regime for CCPs is outlined in Part 18 of FSMA 2000. Amongst other provisions, Part 18 of FSMA 2000 grants an exemption for the purposes of the general prohibition (which provides that no person may carry on a regulated activity in the UK unless they are authorised or exempt), under which CCPs that have been recognised by the Bank are able to carry on a regulated activity in the UK without being authorised under FSMA 2000.
	As with other areas of financial services, the regulation and supervision of CCPs has also been heavily influenced by the UK’s membership of the EU. EMIR is the core EU legislation relating to CCPs. It came into effect on 16 August 2012, and lays down rules on OTC derivatives, central counterparties, and trade repositories. Following the end of the Transition Period, the EU Regulation forms part of retained EU law, by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA 2018) and as amended by regulations made under section 8 of EUWA 2018, which ensure that EMIR continues to function appropriately and effectively in the UK. The EU Regulation as amended and forming part of retained EU law is referred to as UK EMIR.
	The Central Counterparties (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (the "CCP Regulations") is one of the statutory instruments that amended UK EMIR in order to deal with deficiencies arising from the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. Regulations 11 to 26 provide for the TRR.
	There have been several other instruments made under section 8 of EUWA 2018 which have made amendments to UK EMIR to ensure it works in a UK context after EU withdrawal. This includes The Financial Services Contracts (Transitional and Saving Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which amended the CCP Regulations in order to establish a ‘run-off’ regime for overseas CCPs. Regulations 19A to 19D of the CCP Regulations provide for the run-off regime. The run-off regime was established to allow UK firms time to wind down relevant contracts and business with non-UK CCPs that did not enter the TRR or are removed from it without the necessary permissions to provide services in the UK.
	This Act amends Regulation 19B of the CCP Regulations in two ways:
extending the maximum length of the run-off period from one year to 3 years and 6 months and providing that the length of a CCP’s run-off period may be varied; and
giving the Bank a time-limited power where a non-UK CCP has exited the run-off regime before Royal Assent. This would enable the Bank to determine that the run-off period for that CCP (in spite of its expiry) is to be treated, as from the making of the determination, as not having expired and allow the Bank to use its power to vary the run-off period. The purpose of this was to ensure that UK firms would have had a sound legal footing to access the relevant CCPs in a scenario where the Act was passed after 30 June 2023.