HM Treasury has published a policy paper and draft legislation for extending the transitional period for third-country benchmarks under the U.K. Benchmarks Regulation. The transitional period will be extended from the end of 2025 to the end of 2030.

The U.K. Benchmarks Regulation provides that no financial instruments and financial contracts in the U.K. may start to reference a benchmark provided by a third-country benchmark administrator unless that benchmark administrator has approval through equivalence, recognition or endorsement. However, the applicability of these provisions to third-country benchmark providers has been extended numerous times. The government will consider whether the third-country benchmarks regime should be revised as part of the Smarter Regulatory Framework. The extension to 2030 is intended to provide certainty to market participants while that assessment and related work is carried out. The draft legislation is intended to come into force on January 1, 2024.

In October this year, the EU extended to the end of 2025 the transitional period for third-country benchmarks under the EU Benchmarks Regulation.

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