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Date Ref. Title Section Type Download Info Summary Related Documents Translated versions
15/06/2011 2011/141 Consultation paper- ESMA’s technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Prospectus Directive as amended by the Directive 2010/73/EU Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
1.45 MB
14/09/2011 2011/288 Call for evidence- Empty voting Corporate Disclosure, Corporate Governance, Transparency Consultation Paper PDF
81.13 KB
26/01/2011 2011/35 Call for evidence- Request for technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Prospectus Directive (2003/71/EC) as amended by the Directive 2010/73/EU Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
3.85 MB
10/11/2011 2011/373 Consultation paper- Considerations of materiality in financial reporting Corporate Disclosure, IFRS Supervisory Convergence Consultation Paper PDF
170.93 KB
13/12/2011 2011/444 ESMA’s technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Prospectus Directive as amended by the Directive 2010/73/EU Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
1.15 MB		 The purpose of this consultation document from ESMA is to seek comments on the technical advice that ESMA proposes to give to the European Commission on a number of possible delegated acts.
22/12/2011 2011/445 Consultation paper on guidelines on certain aspects of the MiFID suitability requirements MiFID - Investor Protection Consultation Paper PDF
355.06 KB
22/12/2011 2011/446 Consultation paper on guidelines on certain aspects of the MiFID compliance function requirements MiFID - Investor Protection Consultation Paper PDF
393.94 KB
22/03/2012 2012/212 Discussion Paper- An Overview of the Proxy Advisory Industry. Considerations on Possible Policy Options Corporate Disclosure, Corporate Governance Consultation Paper PDF
524.85 KB		 This Discussion Paper focuses on the development of the proxy advisory industry in Europe, which mainly serves institutional investors such as asset managers, mutual funds and pension funds. Following its fact-finding work in 2011, ESMA recognises the proxy advisory industry within Europe is, or is expected to be, growing in prominence and investors are, or are expected to be, increasingly using proxy advisor services. In this paper ESMA identifies several key issues related to the proxy advisory market which may have an impact on the proper functioning of the voting process. The range of policy options that ESMA will consider, and on which it seeks further input from market participants, consists of four broad areas, including: 1.    No EU-level action at this stage 2.    Encouraging Member States and/or industry to develop standards 3.    Quasi-binding EU-level regulatory instruments 4.    Binding EU-level legislative instruments ESMA will consider these options based on the feedback it receives from market participants, and, if appropriate, will undertake further policy action, either directly or by providing an opinion to the European Commission. The reason to bring up some policy options is due to the fact that proxy advisors are currently not regulated at a pan-European level. Nevertheless, there are relevant European rules that apply to investors (e.g. for UCITS management companies when exercising voting rights). In addition, there are also well-recognised corporate governance standards that apply to issuers at a national level (based on the “comply or explain approach”) and some complements to improve standards of stewardship among investors. All feedback received from this Discussion Paper will be duly considered. ESMA expects to publish a feedback statement in Q4 of 2012 which will summarise the responses received and will state ESMA’s view on whether there is a need for policy action in this area.
20/06/2012 2012/380 ESMA’s technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Prospectus Directive as amended by the Directive 2010/73/EU Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
1.49 MB		 Responses to this consultation paper should be submitted online by 20 August 2012.
17/09/2012 2012/570 Guidelines on remuneration policies and practices (MiFID) MiFID - Investor Protection Consultation Paper PDF
508.33 KB
01/10/2012 2012/607 Further amendments to ESMA’s Recommendations for the consistent implementation of the Prospectus Regulation regarding mineral companies Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
481.61 KB
19/07/2013 2013/1013 Guidelines on enforcement of financial information Corporate Disclosure, IFRS Supervisory Convergence Consultation Paper PDF
540.55 KB

Responding to this paper The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is seeking comments on all matters covered in this paper and in particular on the specific questions summarised in Annex 1. Comments are most helpful if they: respond to the question stated; indicate the specific question to which the comment relates; contain a clear rationale; and describe any alternatives ESMA should consider. Deadline ESMA will consider all comments received by 15 October 2013. All contributions should be submitted online at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading “Your input - Consultations” Publication of responses All contributions received will be published following the close of the consultation, unless you request otherwise. Please clearly and prominently indicate in your submission any part you do not wish to be publicly disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a request for non-disclosure. A confidential response may be requested from us in accordance with ESMA’s rules on access to documents. We may consult you if we receive such a request. Any decision we make not to disclose the response is reviewable by ESMA’s Board of Appeal and the European Ombudsman. Data protection Information on data protection can be found at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading “Legal Notice”. Who should read this paper All interested parties are invited to respond to this consultation paper. It will primarily be of interest to those charged with the governance of issuers preparing financial information, users of financial information, auditors, and other parties who have a particular interest in financial reporting.
20/12/2013 2013/1970 Draft Regulatory Technical Standards on specific situations that require the publication of a supplement to the prospectus Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Technical Standards PDF
713.74 KB		 The Final Report contains the draft Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS) on situations which require the publication of a supplement to the prospectus which ESMA is required to submit to the European Commission by 1 January 2014 in accordance with Article 16(3) of the Prospectus Directive. The Report furthermore includes a summary of the main responses received to ESMA’s Consultation Paper which was published in March 2013. The draft RTS sets out nine situations which are always considered to be significant in the context of securities issuance and where a supplement to the prospectus will always be required. Other situations would require a case-by-case assessment.
15/03/2013 2013/316 Draft Regulatory Technical Standards on specific situations that require the publication of a supplement to the prospectus Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
672.89 KB		 The Consultation Paper sets out a draft Regulatory Technical Standard concerning situations that require the systematic publication of a supplement to the prospectus which the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is obliged to develop in accordance with Article 16(3) of the Prospectus Directive. The listed situations are concrete examples of the general obligation in Article 16(1)  to mention in a supplement every significant new factor, material mistake or inaccuracy relating to information included in the prospectus which is capable of affecting the assessment of the securities. ESMA believes that the test whether a new factor, mistake or inaccuracy qualifies as a triggering event for producing a supplement is the same test as whether information should be included in the prospectus. As a consequence, significance or materiality should be assessed according to the same qualitative and/or quantitative criteria used when drafting the prospectus. In light of this, ESMA has identified a short list comprising 10 situations, which will always require issuers, offerors or persons asking for admission to trading to draw up and publish a supplement to the prospectus.The CP includes a draft Regulatory Technical Standard setting out the situations that would require a systematic publication of a supplement as well as the minimum content of such a supplement. Responses to the consultation should be submitted online by 28 June 2013.
09/07/2013 2013/918 Draft Regulatory Technical Standards on information requirements for assessment of acquisitions and increases in holdings in investment firms (MiFID) MiFID - Investor Protection Consultation Paper PDF
506.86 KB		 Executive summary Reasons for publication Article 10b(4) of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID ) requires Member States to make publicly available the information necessary to carry out the assessment of a proposed acquirer of an investment firm. This information must be provided at the time of the initial notification. This information is aimed at ensuring that competent authorities are provided with adequate and proportionate information in order to assess the acquisition. Article 10a of MiFID, as amended by Article 6(4) of the Omnibus Directive , requires ESMA to draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) to establish an exhaustive list of information referred to in Article 10b(4) of MiFID. ESMA is required to submit the draft RTS to the European Commission (Commission) by 1 January 2014.   Contents The proposed RTS set out in this Consultation Paper (CP) are based on the CEBS, CESR and CEIOPS ‘Guidelines for the prudential assessment of acquisitions and increases in holdings in the financial sector required by Directive 2007/44/EC’ (3L3 Guidelines), as well as the report issued by the Commission (in February 2013) to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of Regions on the application of Directive on acquisitions and increase of holdings in the financial sector. Section II explains the background to the proposals; Section III describes the proposals on the exhaustive list of information to be included by proposed acquirers in their notification. Annex I sets out the legislative mandate to develop draft RTS; Annex II sets out the cost-benefit analysis related to the draft RTS; Annex III lists the questions contained in this CP; and Annex IV sets out the full text of the draft RTS. Next steps ESMA will consider the responses it receives to this CP in Q4, and will finalise the draft RTS for submission to the Commission by 1 January 2014 for endorsement.
26/09/2014 2014/1186 Consultation paper on draft RTS on prospectus related issues under the Omnibus II Directive Prospectus, Corporate Disclosure Consultation Paper PDF
670.42 KB		 ESMA invites comments on all matters in this paper and in particular on the specific questions summarised in Annex I. Comments are most helpful if they:•    respond to the question stated;•    indicate the specific question to which they relate;•    contain a clear rationale; and•    describe any alternatives ESMA should consider.ESMA will consider all comments received by 19 December 2014. All contributions should be submitted online at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading ‘Your input - Consultations’. Publication of responses All contributions received will be published following the close of the consultation, unless you request otherwise. Please clearly and prominently indicate in your submission any part you do not wish to be publically disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a request for non-disclosure. A confidential response may be requested from us in accordance with ESMA’s rules on access to documents. We may consult you if we receive such a request. Any decision we make not to disclose the response is reviewable by ESMA’s Board of Appeal and the European Ombudsman.Data protection                      Information on data protection can be found at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading ‘Legal Notice’.Who should read this paper This document will be of interest to all stakeholders. It would primarily be of interest to investors, issuers, offerors or persons asking for admission to trading on a regulated market, as well as to any market participant who is affected by Directive 2003/71/EC of 4 November 2003 (the Prospectus Directive) as amended by Directive 2010/73/EU and Directive 2010/78/EU and its Regulation (Commission Regulation (EC) No 809/2004) and Delegated Regulations (Commission Delegated Regulation (EC) No 486/2012, No 862/2012, No 759/2013 and No 1392/2014.
29/09/2014 2014/1187 Draft Regulatory Technical Standards on major shareholdings and an indicative list of financial instruments subject to notification requirements under the revised Transparency Directive Corporate Disclosure, Transparency Technical Standards PDF
810.07 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) under the revised Transparency Directive relating to the notification of major shareholdings.
19/12/2014 2014/1570 Consultation paper on MiFID II/MiFIR- part 1 MiFID - Investor Protection, MiFID - Secondary Markets Consultation Paper PDF
6.55 MB		 Who should read this paper? This document will be of interest to all stakeholders involved in the securities markets. It is primarily of interest to competent authorities and firms that are subject to MiFID II and MiFIR – in particular, investment firms, credit institutions performing investment services and activities, data reporting services providers and trading venues. This paper is also important for trade associations and industry bodies, institutional and retail investors and their advisers, and consumer groups, as well as any market participant because the MiFID II and MiFIR requirements seek to implement enhanced provisions to ensure investor protection and the transparency and orderly running of financial markets with potential impacts for anyone engaged in the dealing with or processing of financial instruments. Responding to this paper The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) invites responses to the specific questions listed in the ESMA MiFID II/MiFIR Consultation Paper. Please note that ESMA will only be able to consider responses received using this “form to reply” and complying with the procedure below. a)    InstructionsPlease note that, in order to facilitate analysis of the large number of responses expected, ESMA will be using an IT tool that does not allow processing of responses which do not follow the formatting indications described below. Therefore, in responding stakeholders should:i.    use the published template and send their responses in Word format (pdf documents will not be considered except for annexes); ii.    not remove the tags of type - i.e. the response to one question has to be framed by the 2 tags corresponding to the question; andiii.    if they have no response to a question, not delete it and leave the text “TYPE YOUR TEXT HERE” between the tags. b)    Naming protocolIn order to facilitate the handling of stakeholders responses please save your document using the following format:ESMA_MiFID2_CP_NAMEOFCOMPANY_NAMEOFDOCUMENT: e.g. if the respondent were ESMA, the name of the reply form would be ESMA_MiFID2_CP_ESMA_REPLYFORM or ESMA_MiFID2_CP_ESMA_ANNEX1 c)    Content of the responses Responses are most helpful:i.    if they respond to the question stated;ii.    contain a clear rationale; andiii.    describe any alternatives that ESMA should consider. Given the breadth of issues covered, ESMA expects and encourages respondents to specifically answer those questions relevant to their business, interest and experience. d)    Deadline Responses must reach us by 2 March 2015. All contributions should be submitted online at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading ‘Your input/Consultations’. Publication of responses All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation period, unless otherwise requested. Please clearly indicate by ticking the appropriate checkbox in the website submission form if you do not wish your contribution to be publicly disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a request for non-disclosure. Note also that a confidential response may be requested from ESMA in accordance with ESMA’s rules on access to documents. ESMA may consult respondents if ESMA receives such a request. Any decision we make is reviewable by ESMA’s Board of Appeal and the European Ombudsman. Data protection Information on data protection can be found at www.esma.europa.eu under the headings ‘Legal notice’ and ‘Data protection’.
19/12/2014 2014/1570 Annex B Consultation paper on MiFID II/MiFIR- Annex B MiFID - Investor Protection, MiFID - Secondary Markets Consultation Paper PDF
2.78 MB		 Who should read this paper? This document will be of interest to all stakeholders involved in the securities markets. It is primarily of interest to competent authorities and firms that are subject to MiFID II and MiFIR – in particular, investment firms, credit institutions performing investment services and activities, data reporting services providers and trading venues. This paper is also important for trade associations and industry bodies, institutional and retail investors and their advisers, and consumer groups, as well as any market participant because the MiFID II and MiFIR requirements seek to implement enhanced provisions to ensure investor protection and the transparency and orderly running of financial markets with potential impacts for anyone engaged in the dealing with or processing of financial instruments. Responding to this paper The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) invites responses to the specific questions listed in the ESMA MiFID II/MiFIR Consultation Paper. Please note that ESMA will only be able to consider responses received using this “form to reply” and complying with the procedure below. a)    InstructionsPlease note that, in order to facilitate analysis of the large number of responses expected, ESMA will be using an IT tool that does not allow processing of responses which do not follow the formatting indications described below. Therefore, in responding stakeholders should:i.    use the published template and send their responses in Word format (pdf documents will not be considered except for annexes); ii.    not remove the tags of type - i.e. the response to one question has to be framed by the 2 tags corresponding to the question; andiii.    if they have no response to a question, not delete it and leave the text “TYPE YOUR TEXT HERE” between the tags. b)    Naming protocolIn order to facilitate the handling of stakeholders responses please save your document using the following format:ESMA_MiFID2_CP_NAMEOFCOMPANY_NAMEOFDOCUMENT: e.g. if the respondent were ESMA, the name of the reply form would be ESMA_MiFID2_CP_ESMA_REPLYFORM or ESMA_MiFID2_CP_ESMA_ANNEX1 c)    Content of the responses Responses are most helpful:i.    if they respond to the question stated;ii.    contain a clear rationale; andiii.    describe any alternatives that ESMA should consider. Given the breadth of issues covered, ESMA expects and encourages respondents to specifically answer those questions relevant to their business, interest and experience. d)    Deadline Responses must reach us by 2 March 2015. All contributions should be submitted online at www.esma.europa.eu under the heading ‘Your input/Consultations’. Publication of responses All contributions received will be published following the end of the consultation period, unless otherwise requested. Please clearly indicate by ticking the appropriate checkbox in the website submission form if you do not wish your contribution to be publicly disclosed. A standard confidentiality statement in an email message will not be treated as a request for non-disclosure. Note also that a confidential response may be requested from ESMA in accordance with ESMA’s rules on access to documents. ESMA may consult respondents if ESMA receives such a request. Any decision we make is reviewable by ESMA’s Board of Appeal and the European Ombudsman. Data protection Information on data protection can be found at www.esma.europa.eu under the headings ‘Legal notice’ and ‘Data protection’.
13/02/2014 2014/175 ESMA Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures Corporate Disclosure, IFRS Supervisory Convergence Consultation Paper PDF
319.12 KB

Reasons for publication In October 2005, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), ESMA’s predecessor body, published a Recommendation on Alternative Performance Measures (“CESR Recommendation” CESR/05-178b). The CESR Recommendation was issued mainly in order to reinforce the objectives of Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards. Given the CESR Recommendation has now been in force for more than 8 years, ESMA has decided to review it with the objective of strengthening the principles contained in it. ESMA now plans to re-issue the principles as ESMA [draft] guidelines thus ensuring that issuers and NCAs will make every effort to com-ply with them. Contents ESMA is issuing this Consultation Paper (CP) to inform market participants about the background to its decision to revise the CESR Recommendation and seek their views on such revision. Section II “Introduction” indicates the reasons for which ESMA believes that these [draft] guidelines on APMs should be issued. Section III “Scope and purpose of the [draft] guidelines” indicates when the [draft] guidelines apply and how these [draft] guidelines interact with financial statements. Section IV “Compliance and reporting obligations” describes how issuers and NCAs should comply with the [draft] guidelines. Section V “[Draft] Guidelines on APMs (Background)” describes the rationale followed in preparing the [draft] guidelines and explanations on the principles provided, which are included in full in Annex III. ESMA would appreciate any comments and answers from stakeholders on the questions contained in the consultation paper. For your convenience, the questions are summarised in annex II. Next steps ESMA will consider the feedback it receives to this consultation in 2014 and expects to publish final guide-lines in the fourth quarter of 2014.

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