Some EU countries unable to punish Emir breaches

Firms in Poland and Ireland cannot be fined for reporting breaches, while Belgium, Portugal and Spain have only recently acquired the ability to impose sanctions

In the latest embarrassment to hit Europe's new derivatives reporting regime, it has emerged that at least five countries were unable to enforce the rules when they were introduced in February, and two of these – Poland and Ireland – still cannot fine companies that breach the regulations.

Other countries have updated their rules to allow sanctions to be handed out – Spain did so on June 27 – but non-financial firms that did not comply up to that point are expected to get away scot-free because