The Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR – EU 575/2013) differentiates between ‘qualified’ and ‘non-qualified’ Central Counterparties. A ‘Qualified Central Counterparty’ needs to be authorised by ESMA, related to article 14 of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR – EU 648/2013) or – in case of third-country CCPs – they will be accepted under Article 25 of EMIR. Otherwise a Central Counterparty is a ‘non-qualified CCP’. ESMA has informed that there is no authorised Central Counterparty in Europe, and they do not expect authorisations until 1Q 2014. From an institution's point of view is it very important to manage their trade exposures by ‘Qualified CCPs’ because those circumstances have an impact on the capital requirements of institutions. If an institution transacts a derivative by a ‘Qualified CCP’, the derivative will have a risk weight of two per cent – in relation to Article 306 (1)(a) of CRR. Is the CCP ‘non-qualified’, the credit risk will be calculated accordingly to Article 107 (2 b) CRR – based on Article 306 (1b) – which means: Credit Risk Standardised Approach. Based on Article 112 (g) - which is the next step in that “waterfall-model” - the exposure class ‘Corporates’ has to be used. The table of Article 122 shows the risk weights for corporates, percentages between 20 and 150, which means normally 100 per cent. The next point is: CCPs have to be rated in accordance with article 136 et seq. Under this article EBA, EIOPA and ESMA have to formulate technical operating standards no later than 1st July 2014. (But this is only a 'sideshow'.) Institutions are in a difficult situation at the moment. Central question – two per cent or 100 per cent risk weigt for trade exposure?