Regulation (EU) 2021/168 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 February 2021 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 as regards the exemption of certain third-country spot foreign exchange benchmarks and the designation of replacements for certain benchmarks in cessation, and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012Text with EEA relevance.

Article 13a of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 is replaced by the following:

Article 13a

Amendments to legacy contracts for the purpose of the implementation of benchmark reforms

1. Counterparties may continue to apply the risk-management procedures referred to in Article 11(3) that they have in place on 13 February 2021 in respect of OTC derivative contracts which are not cleared by a CCP and that are entered into or novated before the date on which the obligation to have risk-management procedures in place pursuant to Article 11(3) takes effect where, after 13 February 2021, those contracts are subsequently amended or novated for the sole purpose of replacing a reference benchmark or introducing a fallback provision in relation to any benchmark referenced in that contract.

1. Contracts which are entered into or novated before the date on which the clearing obligation takes effect pursuant to Article 4 and which, after 13 February 2021, are subsequently amended or novated for the sole purpose of replacing a reference benchmark or introducing a fallback provision in relation to any benchmark referenced in that contract, shall not, for that reason, become subject to the clearing obligation referred to in Article 4.

1. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply only to OTC derivative contracts the amendment or novation of which:

(a) is necessary for the purpose of replacing a benchmark in the context of benchmark reforms;

(b) does not change the economic substance or risk factor represented by the reference to a benchmark in such contract; and

(c) does not encompass other changes to any legal term of that contract that does not relate to the benchmark referenced and thus potentially amends the contract in a way that effectively requires it to be considered a new contract..

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 10 February 2021.

For the European Parliament

The President

D. M. Sassoli

For the Council

The President

A. P. Zacarias