FCA urges UK EMIR exemption notifications before 5 December ahead of January reform

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has finalised technical standards for a permanent and simplified intragroup exemption regime under UK EMIR. Policy Statement PS26/21, published on 3 November, implements HM Treasury's reform of how qualifying transactions between members of the same corporate group can be exempted from some mandatory central-clearing and bilateral-margin requirements. The new regime begins on 1 January 2027, when the existing temporary framework ends.[1][2]

For derivatives businesses, the important date before the year-end transition is 5 December 2026. The FCA urges firms wanting new intragroup margin or clearing exemptions before 1 January to submit notifications before that date through the current process so the regulator has time to deal with them. Firms intending to submit between 5 and 31 December should contact the FCA. After the transition, new notifications use the streamlined Connect process.[1][2]

There is also a continuity provision. Exemptions that applied immediately before 1 January 2027 continue, provided the qualifying conditions remain satisfied. That includes relevant permissions previously obtained under the Temporary Intragroup Exemption Regime, commonly called TIGER. The point is not that every cross-border group deal automatically becomes exempt. A firm's legal entities and transaction relationships must still satisfy the specified conditions and any reporting or notification obligations.[1][2]

What the operational details mean

UK EMIR imposes central clearing on specified OTC derivatives for qualifying counterparties above relevant thresholds and bilateral margin for in-scope uncleared trades. The intragroup relief recognises that transactions between connected companies can present a different risk and control structure from arms-length counterparties. It remains important to distinguish an exemption from these particular obligations from broader exemptions from derivatives transaction reporting, market abuse controls, client protections or capital requirements.[1][2]

Operationally, broker groups, investment firms and clearing intermediaries should map each relying legal entity, the transactions in scope, the originating exemption status and any new notifications that will be needed. A single group label is not sufficient evidence of eligibility. The FCA's 3 November information also says it will update Connect and UK EMIR webpages from 5 December to prepare the new January filing process; systems teams should not assume the new process is already live throughout November.[1][2]

The reform can reduce duplication and administrative burden for eligible groups, but there is no verified industry-wide saving per firm and no automatic reduction in collateral for every connected entity. Its immediate news value is the specific transition timetable and carryover protection for existing exemptions. A broker with cross-border OTC derivative activity should test those dates against its actual group structure rather than convert the policy headline into a blanket statement that intragroup margins no longer apply.[1][2]

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