Benchmarks

Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU and Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the “Benchmark Regulation”) and the Law of 17 April 2018 on benchmarks (the “Benchmark Law”) represent a common framework to ensure the accuracy and integrity of indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts, or to measure the performance of investment funds in the Union and thereby contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market while achieving a high level of consumer and investor protection.

The Benchmark Regulation has been amended several times and since 1 January 2026, the scope of the Benchmark Regulation has been substantially reduced¹. As of that date the scope of the Benchmark Regulation is limited to systemically relevant (critical and significant) benchmarks, EU Climate Transition and EU Paris-aligned benchmarks, as well as certain commodity benchmarks that are not based on submissions by contributors the majority of which are supervised entities. All other financial benchmarks are no longer covered by the provisions of the Benchmark Regulation from this date.

The Benchmark Regulation targets three types of market participants, namely benchmark administrators, natural or legal persons contributing input data to a benchmark and supervised entities using a benchmark.

• Benchmark administrators within the scope of the Benchmark Regulation which are located in Luxembourg must be authorised or registered by the CSSF. They are subject to supervision with respect to their governance arrangements and conflicts of interest, the oversight function, the control framework, the accountability framework as well as the record keeping.
• Natural or legal persons contributing input data to benchmarks are obliged, among others, to adhere to a code of conduct specifying clearly their responsibilities.
• Supervised entities using benchmarks:
  • Supervised entities may use all benchmarks outside the scope of the Benchmark Regulation and all benchmarks listed in the ESMA register as referred to in Article 36 of the Benchmark Regulation (in-scope benchmarks) without further ado.
  • Supervised entities i) shall not add new references to a significant benchmark where that benchmark is the object of a public notice issued by a competent authority or ESMA pursuant to Article 24a(6) of the Benchmark Regulation and ii) shall replace that benchmark if it is used in existing financial contracts or financial instruments with an appropriate alternative within 6 months of the publication of that notice (or issue and publish a statement on its website providing clients with a reasoned explanation for not being able to do so).
  • Supervised entities shall regularly consult the European Single Access Point (ESAP) as referred to in Article 28a of the Benchmark Regulation, or the ESMA register as referred to in Article 36 of the Benchmark Regulation, to verify the regulatory status of the administrators of critical benchmarks, significant benchmarks, commodity benchmarks subject to Annex II, EU Climate Transition Benchmarks or EU Paris-Aligned Benchmarks they intend to use.