The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 4 September 2026, setting out cooperation and information-exchange arrangements covering central counterparties (CCPs) established in India and supervised by SEBI.

The MoU is not itself a recognition decision. It is a precondition for one. Under Article 25 of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), a third-country CCP cannot obtain ESMA recognition without a cooperation arrangement in place between ESMA and the CCP's home supervisor. With the SEBI agreement signed, Indian CCPs supervised by SEBI can now re-apply for EMIR recognition.

The re-application language matters. EU clearing members previously lost access to Indian CCPs, and restoring that access has been the operational goal of the negotiations. The MoU with SEBI follows a separate agreement between ESMA and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed earlier this year. Together, the two documents cover the Indian supervisory jurisdictions relevant to the country's major clearinghouses, and ESMA describes them as a further significant step towards restoring EU clearing member access to Indian CCPs.

The timeline is long. ESMA notes the SEBI MoU follows more than two years of sustained engagement with Indian authorities. During that period, EU banks and clearing members faced a structural gap: exposure to Indian markets without a regulatory framework permitting recognized clearing of those positions. For desks clearing Indian equities, fixed income and derivatives, the recognition question is an execution and margin workflow issue, not an administrative detail — recognition determines whether EU clearing members can clear locally at Indian CCPs under EMIR-compliant arrangements.

ESMA attributes the outcome to close and constructive cooperation with SEBI, and frames the agreement as reflecting its commitment to international supervisory cooperation and mutual support for safe, resilient and open financial markets. That is an institutional characterization, not a measured result. What the MoU concretely provides, per ESMA's statement, is a framework for cooperation and exchange of information between the two supervisors in relation to the recognition of SEBI-supervised CCPs.

What is mandated and what remains open

Three items separate fact from expectation.

First, the MoU is signed. Indian CCPs supervised by SEBI may now re-apply for recognition under EMIR. Recognition itself is not granted by the MoU; each CCP must complete the application and assessment process under Article 25.

Second, the RBI cooperation arrangement is in place from earlier this year, covering CCPs within the central bank's supervisory remit.

Third, one gap remains. ESMA is continuing discussions with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), which oversees entities in India's GIFT City financial centre, with a view to concluding a similar cooperation arrangement. Until that agreement is signed, CCPs established in the IFSC and supervised by IFSCA do not have the Article 25 precondition for ESMA recognition.

Desk implications

For EU clearing members, the practical path to restored Indian clearing runs through each CCP's recognition application and the subsequent ESMA assessment. Firms with Indian market exposure should track application submissions and recognition decisions — the MoU opens the door, but does not set the schedule on which individual CCPs walk through it. Buy-side and sell-side operations teams will need to reassess clearing arrangements, documentation and margin flows as recognition decisions land.

ESMA has published the MoU document, "MoU ESMA-SEBI CCPs," on its website. Press contact: Tayfun Yilmaz, Communications Officer, [email protected].

The next measurable milestones are the first SEBI-supervised CCP recognition applications under EMIR and the conclusion of an ESMA-IFSCA arrangement, both of which will determine when EU clearing members regain full access to Indian clearing infrastructure.