[author: Alice Taylor]

On May 30, 2016, the Council of the EU published a press release confirming that it has adopted a Regulation amending the Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation 575/2013) (CRR) to extend an exemption from certain requirements for commodity dealers.

The expiry date for the exemption of commodity dealers from large exposure requirements and from own funds requirements has been pushed back under the amending Regulation from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2020.

The CRR requires the European Commission to prepare reports on the prudential supervision of commodity dealers and of investment firms in general. Since the review is still underway, it is likely that new legislation that may be required would only be adopted after the initial expiry date for the exemption. The purpose of the extension is therefore to provide commodity dealers with a stable regulatory environment in the meantime.

The European Parliament adopted the amending Regulation on May 11, 2016. It will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ).