EMIR defines financial counterparties by the list in Article 2(8). It covers investment firms, credit institutions, insurance and reinsurance undertakings, UCITS, and central securities depositories authorized under EU law, as well as institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs) and alternative investment funds (AIFs). UCITS and AIFs set up only for employee share schemes, and AIFs that are securitization special purpose entities, are excluded1. A non-financial counterparty is an undertaking established in the EU other than a central counterparty or a financial counterparty2.

The scope of the clearing obligation when a counterparty exceeds a clearing threshold, or chooses not to calculate its positions, differs between the two categories. A financial counterparty clears in all classes subject to the clearing obligation. A non-financial counterparty clears only in the classes where it exceeds the threshold (or in all classes subject to the obligation if it did not calculate)3.

When positions are calculated, UCITS and alternative investment funds are counted fund by fund, not at the level of the whole group4.

Notes

  1. EMIR Article 2(8)(a) to (g). ESMA, Interactive Single Rulebook (retrieved October 3, 2026). ↩

  2. EMIR Article 2(9). ↩

  3. EMIR Article 4a(1), second subparagraph, point (iii) (financial counterparties), and Article 10(1), second subparagraph, point (c) (non-financial counterparties). ↩

  4. EMIR Article 4a(3), third subparagraph. ↩