EU Benchmarks Regulation Overhaul Published

The long awaited overhaul of Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 (“EU BMR”) was published on the 19^th May 2025. Regulation (EU) 2025/914 (the “EU BMR Amending Regulation”)  amends and updates EU BMR to conduct a significant overhaul of the regime.

Executive Summary

The key focus of amendments are changes in-scope leading to a significant net reduction in benchmarks subject to the EU BMR. Notably:

• reducing the scope of the EU BMR so it only applies to critical and significant benchmarks, EU Climate Transition and EU Paris-Aligned benchmarks (“EU Climate Benchmarks”) and certain commodity benchmarks;
• amending the thresholds for significant benchmarks (so generally fewer benchmarks will fall within this category automatically) but allowing for designation or opt-in of benchmarks as significant; and
• ensuring that third-country benchmarks falling outside of the new scope of the BMR can be freely used by EU supervised entities, even in the absence of equivalence, recognition or endorsement.

However, one potential expansion of scope is in the realm of ESG disclosures. ESG disclosure obligations have been extended to apply to all benchmarks used in the EU making ESG claims provided by administrators that are either included in the benchmarks register or belong to the same group as such an administrator.

Who Will These Amendments Affect?

The amendments introduce greater proportionality into the EU BMR, easing the compliance burden on certain administrators. This will impact benchmark administrators inside the EU, and non-EU administrators who provide benchmarks for use within the EU.

The revised rules also affect EU “supervised entities” (essentially, EU regulated financial institutions) which must currently verify that all benchmarks they use are subject to the EU BMR (under authorisation, registration, recognition, endorsement or equivalence) or benefit from transitional provisions. Due to the amended scope of the EU BMR going forward, this obligation has been revised.   

Key Amendments - Scope

Currently, any person acting as a benchmark administrator in the EU must obtain authorisation or registration, and EU supervised entities are prevented from using any third-country benchmarks unless they are subject to recognition, endorsement or equivalence (subject to transitional provisions until 31 December 2025).

Under the EU BMR Amending Regulation, the EU BMR now generally only applies to “critical” benchmarks, “significant” benchmarks, EU climate benchmarks and commodity benchmarks that (in summary) are based on contributed input data from a majority of non-supervised entities and which are referenced by financial instruments exceeding an average notional value of EUR 200 million.

The scope of “significant” benchmarks has also been amended.

• Going forward, a benchmark will be automatically deemed significant if it is used “within the Union” for financial instruments with a total average value of at least EUR 50 billion over a period of 6 months (across the range of maturities or tenors, all currencies or other units of measure and all return calculation methodologies). Whilst the nominal threshold is the same as under the current EU BMR, the key distinction is that the use of the benchmark now only refers to EU use (which is likely to descope some benchmarks that are used outside the EU). However, on the other hand, the threshold must now explicitly consider all currencies or units or measure and return calculation methodologies (which is a slight widening of the calculations).
• An otherwise non-significant benchmark may be “designated” as significant by a competent authority (or in the case of third-country benchmarks, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA")) where the benchmark has no, or very few appropriate market-led substitutes, and there would be significant adverse impacts on market integrity, financial stability, consumers, the real economy or the financing of households and businesses were the benchmark to cease to be provided or be provided on the basis of unreliable input data. This allows for smaller benchmarks to be included in the regime on a more qualitative basis.
• In addition, administrators who wish to effectively “opt-in” to the EU BMR, may make a written request to a competent authority setting out the reasons for such a request where they are used for financial instruments with a total average value of at least EUR 20 billion over the preceding 6 months.

These changes are supported by amendments to the EU BMR that facilitate changes to the status of benchmark administrators when the status of their benchmarks change. For instance, providing some time to apply to regulators after a benchmark has exceeded the significant threshold, and allowing ESMA or competent authorities to declare that a benchmark has exceeded the significant threshold.

Other key amendments

Outside of the key scope changes, the EU BMR Amending Regulation has made a number of other amendments, including:

• Use of Benchmarks: Going forward, EU supervised entities are only prevented from using benchmarks that are critical benchmarks, in-scope commodity benchmarks or EU Climate Benchmarks that are not appropriately included on the benchmarks register, or are significant benchmarks that are subject to a public regulatory notice of non-compliance with the EU BMR.
• ESG Disclosure: The amendments clarify the scope of ESG disclosures so they apply to benchmarks making ESG-related claims in legal or marketing documentation. However, the obligation has also been extended to all benchmarks used in the EU provided by administrators that are either included in the benchmarks register or belong to the same group as such an administrator. For example, an ESG benchmark provided by a US benchmark administrator in the same group as a regulated EU benchmark administrator for use in the EU will seemingly still need to make ESG disclosures under the EU BMR even if that benchmark is not critical, significant, an in-scope commodity benchmark or an EU Climate Benchmark. The EU BMR Amending Regulation also makes changes around EU Climate Benchmarks generally – for instance removing the obligation for administrators of significant benchmarks to “endeavour” to provide them.
• Spot FX Benchmarks: The Commission’s powers to designate spot FX benchmarks as exempt has been amended to (amongst other things) refer to currency controls (rather than the relevant currency not being “freely convertible”).
• LEIs and ISINs: The EU BMR Amending Regulation encourages (but doesn’t mandate) administrators to obtain LEIs and ISINs for their benchmarks.

Practical Implications

Administrators will need to re-familiarise themselves with the new scope of the EU BMR. Key steps include verifying whether their benchmarks are in scope, and ensuring that monitoring and notification procedures are in place for benchmarks crossing the significant benchmark threshold.

Administrators must also pay close attention to the broadened ESG disclosure requirements, and ensure members of their group (both in and outside the EU) are prepared to comply with these even for benchmarks that are not otherwise in-scope of the EU BMR.  

EU supervised entities will want to confirm the updated regulatory status of benchmarks they use in ESMA’s register, and update their approach to monitoring use of benchmarks in line with the revised scope.

Next Steps

The amendments to the EU BMR will apply from 1 January 2026, giving market participants time to review and update policies / processes and (where necessary) prepare applications to national competent authorities or ESMA (as applicable). The changes are also subject to transitional provisions which can prove helpful and should be considered carefully (for instance, those allowing a 9 month retention of current status for administrators included on the benchmark register).

If you have any questions about these amendments or require assistance please get in touch with your usual CMS contacts or the key contacts for this note.