TITLE: European Securities and Markets Authority Publishes Stress Testing Guidelines for Money Market Funds
BODY:
On 26 March 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published guidelines on stress testing scenarios for money market funds (MMFs) under the Money Market Funds Regulation (MMFR). The guidelines establish common reference parameters for stress testing that competent authorities, MMFs, and MMF managers must apply when conducting stress tests under Article 28 of the MMFR.
The guidelines specify stress testing scenarios across six key risk factors: hypothetical changes in asset liquidity levels, credit risk changes including credit events and rating downgrades, interest rate and foreign exchange rate changes, redemption levels, spreads on interest rate-linked indices, and macroeconomic shocks affecting the broader economy. The guidelines require MMF managers to test these factors both individually and in combination with redemption flows from investors. For MMFs with constant net asset value (NAV) or low volatility NAV, managers must additionally estimate the difference between constant NAV per unit and actual NAV under various scenarios.
The guidelines include calibration parameters updated for 2025 in collaboration with the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and the European Central Bank (ECB). These parameters cover liquidity discounts for government and corporate bonds by rating and residency, credit spread shocks, interest rate shocks across multiple currencies, foreign exchange shocks, and redemption scenarios. Competent authorities must notify ESMA within two months of publication whether they comply with the guidelines, do not comply but intend to, or do not comply and do not intend to comply. The guidelines apply from two months after publication on the ESMA website in all official European Union languages, with certain provisions already effective under the MMFR.
REFERENCES:
ESMA50-481369926-30848, Guidelines on stress test scenarios under the Money Market Funds Regulation, 26 March 2026, available at www.esma.europa.eu