The European Commission has published a draft Implementing Regulation for consultation which introduces a list of certain spot foreign exchange (FX) benchmarks that will be exempt from the requirements under Article 18a of the Benchmark Regulation (BMR). The draft follows the May 2025 consultation to identify spot FX benchmarks used for hedging in jurisdictions where currencies are not freely convertible and where administrators, often unregulated and based outside the EU, cannot benefit from equivalence under Article 30, nor are incentivised to apply for recognition or endorsement due to costs and limited market benefit. Following consultation feedback, the draft Regulation identifies the following benchmarks as meeting the conditions of Article 18a and therefore to be excluded from the scope of the BMR:
- USD/INR (U.S. dollar/–Indian rupee).
- USD/KRW (U.S. dollar/–Korean won).
- USD/TWD (U.S. dollar/–Taiwan dollar).
- USD/PHP (U.S. dollar/–Philippine peso).
The deadline for feedback is 2 March. Once adopted, the Regulation will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, allowing continued use of these benchmarks without triggering the third country requirements under the BMR.
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