The European Securities and Markets Authority (EMSA) has named Robert Ophèle as acting chair of the central counterparty (CCP) supervisory committee, effective 1 January, until a permanent replacement is appointed.The CCP supervisory committee is being established as part of the reform of the current regime for the authorisation, recognition and supervision of CCPs under the European MarketsInfrastructure Regulation (EMIR 2.2)The committee will consist of a chair and two independent members as well as national competent authorities responsible for the supervision of CCPs and central banks of issue of EU currencies, however, these are yet to be named as the recruitment process is ongoing. The committee will be responsible for preparing draft opinions or decisions in relation to EU and third country CCPs for adoption by the board of supervisors.ESMA said: “EMIR 2.2 strengthens ESMA’s role regarding the authorisation and supervision of EU CCPs, promoting supervisory convergence among the activities of national competent authorities, and to the recognition of TC-CCPs, entrusting ESMA with direct supervision of systemically important third country CCPs.”Ophèl is currently the chair of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the stock market regulator in France.He started his career in finance when he joined the Banque de France in 1981 and spent three years in banking supervision before joining the Monetary Studies and Statistics Directorate as an economist, specialising in the interaction between financial market developments and monetary policy.Following a secondment to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York between 1990 and 1991, he returned to the Banque de France as head of the budget division, according to AMF.He then subsequently took up the position of director of the management control and budget directorate. In this role, he represented the Banque de France on various Eurosystem committees.In July 2006, Ophèl was appointed deputy director general economics and international relations before being promoted to director general operations in 2009.More recently, in 2012, Ophèl became second deputy governor of the Banque de France, and was appointed by the governor to represent him as chair of the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority.Ophèl then became a member of AMF and of the supervisory board of the Caisse des Dépôts, before becoming a member of the Supervisory Board for the European Central Bank’s Single Supervisory Mechanism in 2014.
