EU Publishes Mandate for Use of UPI Alongside LEI in OTC Derivatives Transaction Reporting

The Official Journal of the European Union has published the requirement for the Unique Product Identifier (UPI), created and distributed by the Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), to be part of EU law. The mandate is included in the EMIR Refit publication and makes the EU the first jurisdiction among the G20 to enforce use of the UPI alongside the existing Legal Entity Identifier (LEI ), although many more jurisdictions are expected to follow in coming months. The LEI identifies who did a derivatives trade, and the UPI identifies what derivative product was traded.

The DSB is designated by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) as the sole UPI Service Provider. The identifier is designed to help effective aggregation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transaction reports on a global basis. Reporting parties will be mandated to incorporate the UPI into reporting workflows and submit them to trade repositories once mandates come into effect, which in the EU will be from 29 April 2024. Mandates in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Africa are expected to follow shortly after the EU mandate.

The DSB will also make available its new Client Onboarding and Support Platform (COSP) for fee-paying UPI users in the UAT environment The COSP enables users to join the service and manage their accounts using self-service functions.

Emma Kalliomaki, managing director of ANNA and the DSB, comments: “The DSB welcomes the progress made by the EU on this global initiative. It will continue to work with the Regulatory Oversight Committee and the International Governance Body of the UPI System, and will also collaborate with industry stakeholders to ensure the UPI service is fit-for-purpose. This includes aligning the objectives of the service with the DSB principles, such as cost recovery, reasonable and non-discriminatory access, equal treatment through preserving the DSB common agreement, and efficiency in delivery of DSB services.”