The update directly regulates stress testing requirements for money market funds, which are explicitly defined as cash-equivalent liquid assets in the taxonomy's Strong Yes criteria for Cash Equivalents.
Mandatory inheritance: Cash Equivalents as the primary tag requires Investment Services as the secondary tag, as money market funds are investment products managed by asset managers subject to MiFID II and MMFR regulatory frameworks.
Specialism
The update establishes mandatory stress testing requirements and calibration parameters for money market fund managers under EU regulation, which constitutes prudential standards for financial soundness and risk management.
Mandatory inheritance: Prudential Standards requires the parent tag Governance to be applied, as prudential standards are inherently linked to firm governance and risk management frameworks.
2026-03-27 09:14:49·adavies@vixio.com
Meta Id
3006823
GUID
4b5701e3c5118cee5e67672687bc7bac
Pipeline Progress
🔄 Pipeline Journey
⏱
3m 10s
total
✓
Queued09:11:39
+2m24s
✓
Metadata09:14:03
+1s
✓
S3 Content09:14:04
+30s
✓
Extracted09:14:34
+10s
✓
LLM Gen09:14:44
+5s
✓
Stored09:14:49
TITLE: European Securities and Markets Authority Publishes Updated Stress Testing Guidelines for Money Market Funds
BODY:
On March 26, 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published updated guidelines on stress testing scenarios for money market funds under the Money Market Fund Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1131). The guidelines take effect two months after publication on the ESMA website in all European Union official languages.
The guidelines establish common reference parameters for stress testing scenarios that money market fund managers must incorporate when conducting stress tests under Article 28 of the Money Market Fund Regulation. The parameters address six key risk factors: hypothetical changes in asset liquidity, credit risk changes including rating events, interest rate and exchange rate movements, redemption amounts, spreads on indices linked to portfolio security interest rates, and macroeconomic shocks affecting the broader economy.
Section 5 of the guidelines was updated in 2025 to provide money market fund managers with the information necessary to complete relevant reporting fields in the reporting template specified under Article 37 of the Money Market Fund Regulation, as established by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/708. The calibration parameters reflect 2025 market developments and were developed in collaboration with the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and the European Central Bank (ECB).
Competent authorities must notify ESMA within two months of publication whether they comply with the guidelines, intend to comply, or do not intend to comply. Those not complying must provide reasons for non-compliance. Money market fund managers should apply the specified stress testing scenarios and calibration parameters when conducting required stress tests, though the guidelines note that managers may supplement these minimum requirements with additional factors appropriate to their specific funds.
REFERENCES:
ESMA (2026). Guidelines on stress testing scenarios under the Money Market Fund Regulation. ESMA50-481369926-30848. Available at: https://www.esma.europa.eu