EMIR 3/Active CCP Account (AAR)

EMIR 3 – Obligation to hold an active account at an EU CCP

Changes to the EMIR regime from 24.12.2024 – EMIR 3 (Regulation (EU) 2024/2987)

Comprehensive amendments to Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 (EMIR) entered into force on 24 December 2024: Regulation (EU) 2024/2987 – EMIR 3

A key change is the requirement to hold an active account at an EU CCP , which has applied since 25 June 2025. However, this obligation only applies to entities under certain conditions.

Article 7a EMIR – Active Account Requirement

Counterparties Subject to the Obligation

Pursuant to Article 7a(1), first subparagraph EMIR, the requirement applies to:

  • all financial counterparties and non-financial counterparties,
  • that are subject to the clearing obligation from 24 December 2024 and
  • that exceed the clearing threshold in one of the categories listed Article 7a(6) EMIR or on aggregate across all categories.

Affected (OTC) Derivative Categories (Article 7a(6) EMIR)

The following (OTC) derivatives categories are covered by the obligation:

  • interest rate derivatives denominated in euro or Polish zloty,
  • short-term interest rate derivatives denominated in euro.

Group Perspective

Counterparties belonging to a group must consider all relevant (OTC) derivative contracts that

  • them themselves, or
  • other companies in the group
    clear.

Intragroup transactions are excluded.

Requirements for the Active Account

The active account must be held at an EU CCP that:

  • is authorised pursuant to Article 14 EMIR, and
  • offers clearing services for the relevant derivatives.

Affected entities must:

  • hold at least one active account at a suitable EU CCP,
  • clear a representative number of transactions through this account (“representativeness obligation”).

Important:

The obligation to maintain representativeness does not apply if the outstanding nominal clearing volume is less than EUR 6 billion in the affected derivative contracts.

Notification Obligation to FMA and ESMA

Financial and non-financial counterparties domiciled in Austria that fall under the Article 7a(1) EMIR obligation must notify the Austrian FMA and ESMA.

Notifications must be submitted:

Further information about the notification to be made to ESMA can be found on the ESMA websites in the section EMIR – Active Account Notification.

Deadline for setting up the Active Account

The active account must be set up within six months of the obligation to do so existing – i.e. initially from 25 June 2025.

The account must fulfil the requirements set out in Article 7a(3) EMIR.
Those requirements are detailed in the relevant Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS).

The RTS was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 06.02.2026 as Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/305.

Reporting obligations

Under Article 7b EMIR 3, financial counterparties (FCs) and non-financial counterparties (NFCs) domiciled in Austria are required to prove to the FMA every six months that they comply with the requirements for maintaining an active account pursuant to Article 7a EMIR 3.

  • The Template for submitting the activities and risk exposures during the preceding 12 month period to the FMA can be found in Annex II Tables 1 and 2 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/305. As a general rule, reporting is carried out at counterparty level. However, if the counterparty belongs to a group subject to consolidated supervision pursuant to Article 7a(2) EMIR, then Table 2 of Annex II must also be reported at the level of each subsidiary, both inside and outside the EU.
  • Counterparties are also required to submit evidence of compliance with the operational conditions pursuant to Article 7b(1) EMIR 3 every six months, and the resources and systems used to meet the requirements of Article 7a(3)(b) EMIR 3. This may be done via a written confirmation of the relevant obligations by the reporting entity.
  • An overview of the main sub-categories of derivative contracts, the number of cleared contracts per sub-category and the average for each sub-category over the previous 12 months per class and reference period at an authorised CCP must also be submitted to the FMA every six months to prove that the representativeness obligation pursuant to Article 7a(3)(d) EMIR 3 is met.
  • Furthermore, counterparties are required to notify the FMA if the number of transactions cleared in any sub-category exceeds one-half of the total number of transactions in the preceding rolling 12-month period.
    The Template in Annex III of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/305 is to be used for the submission to the FMA.

The notifications are required to be made by the respective reporting dates of 31 January and 31 July every year, and covering the reporting period from 01.01. until 31.12. (for submission on the reporting date in January) or 01.07. until 30.06. (for submission on the reporting date in July).

Further Information

Further information about reporting obligations, especially those about reporting obligations pursuant to Article 7 EMIR 3, will follow once the relevant RTS has entered into force, and ESMA has clarified additional details.