The BMR became effective on 1 January 2018 and seeks to increase the robustness and reliability of financial benchmarks. The Regulation includes transitional arrangements for existing EU and third country benchmark administrators, allowing these administrators to apply for authorisation by 1 January 2020 which was further extended in 2019 for critical and third country benchmarks for a further two years.

In order to increase the transparency about which benchmarks EU supervised entities can use between December and Q1 2020, ESMA will centralise and publish the information to which users of benchmarks will not have access to during the transitional period. This newly published information will complement that already info included in the register of administrators and benchmarks. ESMA will update this e information until the first week of January.

In particular, the information published by ESMA enables EU supervised entities using benchmarks to be aware of which applications for authorisation / registration of EU-based administrators are pending. For each pending application for authorisation / registration, ESMA will publish the following details: full name of the applicant, legal entity identifier of the applicant, country of the applicant, relevant authority of the applicant and date of application.

December 13, 2019 General

Cuba joins TMview and DesignView

The Cuban Office of Industrial Property (OCPI) made its trade mark and design data available to the TMview and DesignView search tools on 9 December 2019.

TMview now contains data from 72 participating offices, and DesignView contains data from 71 participating offices.

With the addition of more than 50,000 trade marks from OCPI, TMview provides information and access to more than 55.7 million trade marks in total. DesignView contains more than 14.8 million designs, including almost 1,400 designs from OCPI.

Since the introduction of TMview on 13 April 2010, the tool has served more than 64.1 million searches from 169 different countries, with Spain, China and Germany among the most frequent users. As to DesignView, it went live on 19 November 2012, and has since then served more than 5.1 million searches from 163 different countries, with users from the UK, Germany and China among the most frequent users.

The integrations of OCPI in TMview and Designview are concrete results of the IP Key Latin America programme, directed by the European Commission and executed by the EUIPO.

You can find out more at www.euipn.org and www.ipkey.eu

Sakharov Prize

In recognition of his fight for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority, economist and human rights activist Ilham Tohti will be awarded the 2019 Sakharov Prize in a ceremony on Wednesday. As he is currently imprisoned for life in China on charges of separatism, his daughter Jewher will receive the award from President David Sassoli. Later on Wednesday, MEPs will discuss the treatment of China’s Uyghur population.

EU Ombudsman

Parliament will hold a first round of elections for the EU Ombudsman on Tuesday. The Ombudsman will be elected by secret ballot for a five-year term. The five candidates running for the post presented their priorities in a public hearing of Parliament’s petitions committee in early December.

EU summit

On Wednesday morning, MEPs will assess the outcome of the 12-13 December EU summit, which focussed on climate action, the EU’s long-term budget, the Conference on the Future of Europe and Brexit. The new European Council President Charles Michel will report back to Parliament for the first time.

Digital tax

On Monday, MEPs will ask the Commission to detail its plans to tax digital services more fairly in the EU.

Malta

In a debate on Tuesday, MEPs will discuss the investigation into the murder of journalist and anti-corruption activist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the political turmoil it caused in Malta.

Pollinators

In a vote on Wednesday, MEPs are expected to push for a further reduction in pesticide use, more funds for research and better monitoring in order to save pollinators such as bees, butterflies and other insects.

Lisbon Treaty

MEPs will also commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty enhanced democracy in Europe, expanded the rights of European citizens and strengthened the legislative and budgetary powers of Parliament, putting it on an equal footing with the Council in the EU’s decision-making process.

• EUR 100m loan for five-year investment plan with Juncker Plan guarantee
• Projects located in five provinces in the north of Lombardy
• Works in the environment, water and electricity network, hydroelectric power plant, district heating and energy efficiency sectors
• 900,000 people – both families and businesses – will benefit

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is supporting the development plan of Acsm Agam, a utility which provides several services. Acsm Agam is listed on the Milan stock exchange, and operates in the north of Lombardy (provinces of Monza, Como, Lecco, Sondrio and Varese).

The EIB is set to provide EUR 100m of financing with a term of up to 16 years to help implement the five-year investment plan (2019-2023) of the Acsm Agam Group. The loan is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), one of the pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe (the Juncker Plan).

More specifically, the projects – that are all in areas where the Group operates – concern the environment sector, water and electricity networks, hydroelectric power plants, district heating, street lighting, energy efficiency and smart cities, and IT security. A total of around 900,000 people will benefit from company’s investments, both families and businesses.

European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “Europe is investing to improve the lives of our citizens. Thanks to this €100 million loan from the European Investment Bank, part of the so-called Juncker Plan, Acsm Agam will be able to continue improving public services in the north of Lombardy, including improved street lighting, water and electricity distribution.”

EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco said: “Financing projects linked to energy saving and upgrading to combat climate change is the main challenge of the EIB as bank of the European Union. In this case, Acsm Agam Group’s investment plan is designed to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of the services provided. A flagship project showing how Europe can have a positive impact in European citizens’ life”.

“Following the implementation of a major merger transaction in our operating regions and the approval of an ambitious industrial plan, receiving the support of the EIB today to put this all into practice over the long term is another key step forward in our Group’s development,” added Acsm-Agam CEO Paolo Soldani.

ESMA’s report provides an overview on the establishment and application of AMPs in the EU after MAR became applicable, including the AMPs established under the Market Abuse Directive that remained applicable afterwards.

Background

AMPs are a defence against allegations of market manipulation: dealings in financial markets carried out for legitimate reasons and in conformity with an established AMP will not constitute market manipulation. MAR describes the non-exhaustive factors that a competent authority should consider before deciding whether or not to accept a market practice.

MAR’s purpose is to guarantee the integrity of European financial markets and promote investor confidence. The concept of market abuse typically consists of insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information, and market manipulation.