III.2.33.

What are the reasonable steps that the persons required to report data should take in order to verify the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of the data which they submit through third parties under Article 11(2) third subparagraph of Commission Implementing Regulation 1348/2014?

Answer: The Agency understands that in order to define the reasonable steps to verify the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of the data, as laid down in Article 11(2) third subparagraph of Commission Implementing Regulation 1348/2014, a different level of control/verification should be performed by the big, medium and small size market participants. In order to allow market participants to verify the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of the data, the Agency understands that the RRMs should grant the market participant with access to the data in the format defined by the Agency.

Please note that the Agency already addressed the above issue in the RRM Requirements document (p.19): ‘’RRMs reporting data other than their own data must have a mechanism in place to ensure that the person on behalf of whom they report can be granted access to the data submitted to the Agency by the RRM as well as to Agency’s receipts detailing out what data was reported and on the outcome of the reporting’’.

The Agency considers that RRMs should grant access to the market participant’s data reported by the RRM in the format defined by the Agency to: (i) the market participant or (ii) the third party chosen by the market participant. This access should be granted with consideration to the principle of transparency, fairness, non-discrimination and in line with competition law.

The Agency suggests as guidance regarding the reasonable steps that market participants should undertake verification of data samples in the predefined time period at least on a quarterly basis. Depending on the market participant’s size and/or volume of transactions in the relevant period a higher frequency of verification may be considered reasonable.