Benchmarks Regulation

The EU Benchmarks Regulation governs the provision of benchmarks used in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds, the contribution of input data to benchmarks, and the use of benchmarks. The purpose of the Regulation is to ensure the accuracy, robustness and integrity of benchmark determination processes and to prevent benchmark manipulation.

The Benchmarks Regulation has been amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/914 (BMR Review). The reform narrows the scope of the key obligations under the Benchmarks Regulation, in particular to benchmarks that have a significant impact on EU financial markets. 

Who does the Benchmarks Regulation apply to?

The Benchmarks Regulation applies to benchmark administrators, contributors and supervised entities that use benchmarks.

As a general rule, the requirements of Titles II–VI of the Regulation apply to

  • critical benchmarks
  • significant benchmarks
  • EU Climate Transition Benchmarks
  • EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks.

Certain commodity benchmarks are also subject to specific requirements under the Regulation.

Whether a benchmark falls within the scope of the Regulation and which obligations apply to it must be assessed on the basis of the type and significance of the benchmark.  

Benchmarks subject to the Benchmarks Regulation, according to the definition of the Regulation, comprise indices,

  • by reference to which the amount payable under a financial instrument1 or a financial contract2, or the value of a financial instrument, is determined, or
  • used to measure the performance of an investment fund3 with the purpose of tracking the return of such index or of defining the asset allocation of a portfolio or of computing the performance fees.

According to the Regulation, an index is any figure

  • that is published or made available to the public;
  • that is regularly determined:
  1. entirely or partially by the application of a formula or any other method of calculation, or by an assessment; and
  2. on the basis of the value of one or more underlying assets or prices, including estimated prices, actual or estimated interest rates, quotes and committed quotes, or other values or surveys;

 

1 Financial instruments refer to instruments defined in the Investment Services Act, for which a request for admission to trading on a trading venue referred to in the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments has been made or which is traded on a trading venue or via a systematic internaliser.

2 Financial contracts refer to consumer credit contracts.

3 Investment funds refer to UCITS funds under the Act on Common Funds and alternative investment funds (AIFs) under the Act on Alternative Investment Fund Managers.

A benchmark administrator is a natural or legal person that has control over the provision of a benchmark. An administrator located in the EU must apply for authorisation or registration under the Benchmarks Regulation where the conditions laid down in Article 34 of the Regulation are met.

The authorisation or registration requirement applies in particular to administrators that provide

  • critical benchmarks
  • significant benchmarks
  • commodity benchmarks within the scope of Annex II
  • EU Climate Transition Benchmarks, or
  • EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks.

ESMA maintains the public register of benchmark administrators and benchmarks referred to in Article 36 of the Regulation.  

Under the Benchmarks Regulation, the applicable rules vary according to the significance and characteristics of the benchmark.

Critical benchmarks: A benchmark may be classified as critical on the grounds laid down in Article 20 of the Regulation. Critical benchmarks include benchmarks whose use in the Union exceeds the EUR 500 billion threshold laid down in the Regulation. A benchmark may also be classified as critical on other grounds laid down in the Regulation where its cessation would have serious adverse consequences for market integrity, financial stability, consumers, the real economy, or the financing of households and businesses. The Commission designates the critical benchmarks referred to in the Regulation.

Significant benchmarks: A benchmark that is not a critical benchmark is significant if it is used directly or indirectly within the Union as a reference for financial instruments, financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds, and their aggregate average value is at least EUR 50 billion over a six-month period. A benchmark may also be designated as significant through the authority procedure laid down in Article 24 of the Regulation, taking into account, among other factors, the extent of its use, the availability of alternative benchmarks, and the difficulty of replacing it. An administrator located in the EU may also, subject to certain conditions, request that a benchmark be designated as significant. In that case, use of the benchmark in the Union must amount to at least EUR 20 billion during the assessment period laid down in the Regulation.

Commodity benchmarks: Commodity benchmarks are benchmarks whose underlying asset is a commodity within the meaning of the Regulation. Annex II to the Regulation lays down specific requirements for commodity benchmarks based on input data contributed by contributors. Subject to certain conditions, the Benchmarks Regulation does not apply to a commodity benchmark where the majority of contributors are non-supervised entities and the average notional value of financial instruments referencing the benchmark does not exceed EUR 200 million over a 12-month period. The rules applicable to commodity benchmarks depend, among other things, on the type of input data on which the benchmark is based and whether the benchmark falls within the scope of Annex II to the Regulation.

Regulated-data benchmarks: Regulated-data benchmarks are benchmarks determined by applying a formula to input data obtained from regulated data sources defined in the Regulation. The requirements applicable to these benchmarks may differ in certain respects from those applicable to other benchmarks.

Interest rate benchmarks: An interest rate benchmark is a benchmark determined on the basis of interest rates in the manner specified in the Regulation. The provision of interest rate benchmarks and the contribution of related input data are subject to the specific requirements of Annex I to the Regulation. An interest rate benchmark may also be a critical or significant benchmark if the conditions laid down in the Regulation are met.

EU Climate Transition Benchmarks: An EU Climate Transition Benchmark (EU CTB) is a benchmark whose portfolio is constructed so as to follow the decarbonisation trajectory defined in the Regulation. A benchmark must meet the requirements laid down in the Regulation and in acts adopted pursuant to it in order to use the EU CTB designation.

EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks: An EU Paris-aligned Benchmark (EU PAB) is a benchmark whose portfolio is aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement in the manner laid down in the Regulation. A benchmark must meet the requirements laid down in the Regulation and in acts adopted pursuant to it in order to use the EU PAB designation.

A contributor is a natural or legal person that contributes input data to an administrator for the determination of a benchmark. Contributors that are supervised entities may be directly subject to the Benchmarks Regulation’s requirements concerning governance and control and the contribution of input data. Obligations concerning contributors that are not supervised entities are implemented, among other means, through codes of conduct drawn up by the administrator.  

What are supervised entities? 

Supervised entities are financial market participants defined in greater detail in the Benchmarks Regulation, including credit institutions, investment firms, insurance and reinsurance undertakings, management companies, alternative investment fund managers, and certain other entities referred to in point (17) of Article 3(1) of the Regulation.

Under the Regulation, use of a benchmark means

  • the issuance of a financial instrument that references an index or a combination of indices
  • the determination of the amount payable under a financial instrument or a financial contract by reference to an index or a combination of indices
  • being a party to a financial contract that references an index or a combination of indices
  • the determination of the borrowing rate for a consumer credit agreement on the basis of an index or a combination of indices in the manner referred to in the Regulation
  • measuring the performance of an investment fund through an index or a combination of indices for the purpose of tracking the return of the index, defining the asset allocation of a portfolio, or computing performance fees.

A supervised entity’s obligation to ensure that a benchmark may be used depends on the type of benchmark concerned.

New references to a critical benchmark, a commodity benchmark within the scope of Annex II, an EU CTB or an EU PAB may not be added if the benchmark administrator is not included in the ESMA register as required by the Regulation.

For a significant benchmark, a restriction on use may be based on a notice published by the competent authority or ESMA pursuant to Article 24a(6) of the Regulation. Where a supervised entity uses, in an existing financial contract or financial instrument, a benchmark that is subject to such a notice, it must, in the circumstances laid down in the Regulation, replace the benchmark with an appropriate alternative benchmark within six months or publish a reasoned statement explaining why replacement is not possible.

Authorisation and registration of an administrator of benchmarks

Whether a benchmark administrator located in the EU requires authorisation or registration is determined under Article 34 of the Regulation. Authorisation or registration is not a general requirement for all administrators providing indices that meet the definition of a benchmark.

Authorisation or registration is required in the cases laid down in the Regulation, in particular where the administrator provides critical or significant benchmarks, commodity benchmarks within the scope of Annex II, or EU CTBs or EU PABs.  

Benchmarks from third countries

The use in the Union of a benchmark provided by an administrator located in a third country, meaning outside the EU, is subject to the Regulation’s third-country requirements where the benchmark falls within the scope of those requirements.

Access to the EU market for a benchmark provided by a third-country administrator may be based on:

  • equivalence
  • recognition, or
  • endorsement

Equivalence: Use of the benchmark may be based on a European Commission decision that the legal framework and supervisory practices of the third country concerned meet the equivalence conditions laid down in the Benchmarks Regulation.  

Recognition: Subject to the conditions laid down in the Regulation, an administrator located in a third country may apply to ESMA for recognition in respect of the benchmarks within the scope of the Regulation that it intends to provide in the Union.  

Endorsement: Subject to the conditions laid down in the Regulation, an administrator located in the EU and authorised or registered in accordance with Article 34 may apply to ESMA for endorsement of a benchmark or family of benchmarks provided in a third country for use in the Union.  

The Benchmarks Regulation is directly applicable EU legislation in the Member States.

Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 has applied for the most part since 1 January 2018.

The amendments introduced by Regulation (EU) 2025/914 (BMR Review) have applied for the most part since 1 January 2026.

Administrators that, on 31 December 2025, were included in the register referred to in Article 36 of the Regulation as authorised, registered or recognised administrators, or as endorsing administrators, retained that status until 30 September 2026.

By 30 September 2026, the competent authorities and ESMA were required to make the designations of significant benchmarks referred to in Article 51(4c) of the Regulation.

Administrators and benchmarks that do not fall within the scope of the amended Regulation are removed from the ESMA register in accordance with the transitional provisions. Removal from the register does not in itself mean that such a benchmark may not be used in the Union if the benchmark no longer falls within the scope of the relevant restrictions on use under the Regulation.

Subject to the conditions laid down in the Regulation, an administrator located in the EU may request the voluntary designation of one or more of its benchmarks as significant. The transitional provisions separately provide for requests to be submitted by 1 January 2027.