The UK’s FCA has announced a consultation on the exemptions regime for intragroup transactions under UK EMIR. The so-called Temporary Intragroup Exemption Regime (TIGER) under UK EMIR allows UK counterparties to apply for intragroup exemptions when trading over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives with other group entities in non-equivalent regulatory jurisdictions. TIGER was a Brexit-related measure introduced as a temporary bridge post-Brexit to ensure a measure of continuity for multi-jurisdictional firms trading OTC derivatives under UK EMIR.
The TIGER regime is set to expire on 31 December 2026, however, as part of the FCA’s growth and efficiency imperative, it is seeking feedback from the industry on creating a permanent (and proportionate) regime that supports UK firms and reduces unnecessary costs. The FCA’s 34-page consultation document may be found here.
UK EMIR provides exemptions from the clearing obligation and margin requirements for intragroup transactions if they meet certain conditions. On 5 November, the HM Treasury published (click here) a draft statutory instrument (SI) for technical comment, which set out its proposals to amend UK EMIR. The proposed changes aim to create a permanent, more streamlined Intragroup Regime within UK EMIR and associated Binding Technical Standards (BTS). The proposals also aim to give clarity on the status of a counterparty’s intragroup exemptions and reduce regulatory burdens for counterparties, while retaining appropriate regulatory oversight of intragroup transactions. The FCA recommends that respondents read the proposed SI along with the consultation to get a full picture of the proposed changes.
The first change aims at streamlining the intragroup regime by reducing the supplementary documents required for intragroup exemptions notifications from the bilateral margin requirements (margin exemptions). This proposal would mean that counterparties do not have to re-notify the FCA if they want to extend existing margin exemptions to new transactions.
The second aims at simplifying the BTS by consolidating all requirements into a single document. Specifically this would mean moving relevant requirements from BTS 2013/149 (click here) into a single consolidated version of BTS 2016/2251 (click here), which supplements Article 11(15) of UK EMIR, making the navigation of the rules easier. Finally, several consequential amendments will be made to align with changes to UK EMIR which will involve updates to the BTS and the EMIR Q&As (which still reference the ESMA Q&As - click here) so that they remain aligned with UK EMIR and maintain coherence and clarity for counterparties. The specific proposed changes in this respect may be found on pages 18 and 19 of the consultation document.
A marked-up version of the FCA Handbook may be found in Appendix 1 starting on page 27 of the consultation document. The consultation closes on 16 January 2026. For firms wishing to respond, they may do so using this online response form.