On 3 September 2013, ESMA published its advice to the EU Commission, concluding that the Swiss regulatory regime for central counterparties is considered equivalent to EU regulation.
Based on this advice, SIX x-clear Ltd. applied to ESMA on 12 September 2013 for reauthorization as a CCP to provide clearing services to clearing members and trading venues established in the European Union.
ESMA has up to 180 working days to finalize its review of the application, i.e. by mid-June 2014 at the latest.