THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories [OJ L 201, 27.7.2012, p. 1.] and in particular Article 9(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1247/2012 [Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1247/2012 of 19 December 2012 laying down implementing technical standards with regard to the format and frequency of trade reports to trade repositories according to Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (OJ L 352, 21.12.2012, p. 20).] provides for the use of interim entity identifiers where a legal entity identifier is not available. An infrastructure enabling the attribution of legal entity identifiers to entities has recently become available, and market participants have become familiar with the use of such legal entity identifiers. Therefore, legal entity identifiers should now be the only means allowed for the purpose of identification of legal entities.

(2) Determining whether the reporting counterparty is a buyer or a seller in a contract is particularly complex in the case of swap derivative contracts as such contracts involve the exchange of financial instruments between the parties. Therefore, specific rules should be established in order to ensure the accurate and consistent determination of who are the buyers and who are the sellers in swap derivative contracts.