(fra kommisjonsforordningen)

(1) Union businesses and investment funds often have business interests abroad that expose them to exchange rate risk. They may therefore need to hedge against adverse foreign currency movements. Where currencies are not freely convertible, hedging can still be accomplished by using non-deliverable forward contracts that reference spot foreign exchange benchmarks. 

(2) Administrators of spot foreign exchange benchmarks located outside the Union are often unregulated, which prevents the Commission from adopting an equivalence decision pursuant to Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. Those administrators may also lack sufficient economic incentives to access the Union market through recognition, as set out in Article 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011, or endorsement, as set out in Article 33 of that Regulation, as both of those options require a significant investment by the administrator. Because Union businesses and investment funds might nevertheless need to be able to hedge their foreign exchange exposures, Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 was amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/168 of the European Parliament and of the Council to exclude from the scope of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 spot foreign exchange benchmarks which the Commission designates in accordance with the requirements laid down in Article 18a of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. Regulation (EU) 2025/914 of the European Parliament and of the Council amended that Article 18a of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 by replacing the existing requirements with new requirements. From 9 May to 4 July 2025, the Commission conducted a public consultation to identify spot foreign exchange benchmarks that fulfil the conditions of Article 18a(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011, as required by Article 18a(2) of that Regulation. That consultation enabled the Commission to identify the following spot foreign exchange benchmark to which the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 are not to apply: the US dollar-Indian rupee benchmark (‘USDINR’), the US dollar-Korean won benchmark (‘USDKRW’), the US dollarTaiwan dollar benchmark (‘USDTWD’) and the US dollar-Philippine peso benchmark (‘USDPHP’). 

(3) Respondents to the public consultation provided data that demonstrated that during a six-month period covering the second half of 2024, the total average value of nondeliverable foreign exchange forward and swap contracts referencing the USDINR, USDKRW and USDTWD in the Union in 2024 exceeded the EUR 50 billion threshold for significant benchmarks laid down in Article 24(1), point (a) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. While the reported total value of non-deliverable foreign exchange forward and swap contracts referencing the USDPHP over the same period was less than EUR 50 billion, it is likely to have exceeded that threshold since then, or to exceed it soon based on the general trend of the foreign exchange market. Consequently, Titles II, III, with the exception of Articles 23a, 23b and 23c, IV, V and VI of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 could be likely to apply in respect of these benchmarks if they are not designated by the Commission. 

(4) To assess the presence of currency controls for each of the currencies concerned, as required by Article 18a(1), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011, the Commission relied on the information provided in the Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions 2023 published by the International Monetary Fund on 19 December 2024, and additional evidence submitted by respondents to the public consultation. That information and evidence point to the fact that (i) the Indian 1999 Foreign Exchange Management Act was enacted to govern the flow of foreign exchange across Indian borders and, inter alia, restricts the ability of Indian residents to hold foreign exchange outside India; (ii) restrictions apply to making payments from the Republic of Korea to a foreign country or to non-residents, with a possibility for the Ministry of Economy and Finance to impose an obligation to obtain permission; (iii) limitations exist for the conversion of new Taiwan dollar (TWD), where it is not possible to remit the TWD outside Taiwan without converting it into a foreign currency; and (iv) restrictions apply to the use of the Philippine peso (‘PHP’) for international payments, with amounts in excess of PHP 50,000 requiring a prior written authorisation from the Philippine central bank (the 'Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas'). 

(5) Responses to the public consultation point to the fact that the USDINR, USDKRW, USDTWD and USDPHP are each used on a frequent, systematic and regular basis to hedge against adverse foreign exchange rate movements in the Union. Around 70 %- 80 % of the notional value of trades in foreign exchange forward and swap contracts referencing USDINR, USDKRW, USDTWD and USDPHP correspond to the hedging activity of local foreign currency exposure in the Union. Those spot foreign exchange benchmarks thus comply with the condition laid down in Article 18a(1), point (b)(i), of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. Those responses also demonstrated that none of those spot foreign exchange benchmarks have an equivalent alternative benchmark provided by an administrator located in the Union, and thus comply with the requirement laid down in Article 18a(1), point (b)(ii), of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. .Those spot foreign exchange benchmarks should therefore be designated as spot foreign exchange benchmarks that fulfil the criteria laid down in Article 18a(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011. 

(6) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the European Securities Committee,