(5)Of the CCPs established in third countries that have already applied for recognition in accordance with Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, 32 CCPs have been recognised by the European Securities and Markets Authority. The remaining third-country CCPs are still awaiting recognition and their recognition process will not be completed by 15 December 2018. If the transitional period is not extended, institutions established in the Union (or their subsidiaries established outside the Union) having exposures to those remaining third-country CCPs will be required to increase their own funds for those exposures significantly, potentially leading to the withdrawal of those institutions as direct participants in those CCPs or, at least temporarily, to the cessation of the provision of clearing services to those institutions' clients and thus cause severe disruption in the markets in which those CCPs operate.