Applications are welcome by 13.00 CET on 15 February 2013.

Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), delivered the keynote speech at the Ernst & Young Financial Reporting Outlook Conference in London.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) published today their Joint Committee final Report on guidelines for handling consumer complaints in the securities and banking sectors. The document aims to increase market confidence and for the benefit of consumers and firms alike it will ensure a harmonised approach to handling complaints for all 28 EU Member States and across all financial services sectors.The final report published today is part of the efforts of the European Supervisory Authorities to bring further supervisory convergence across the securities and banking sectors. It was developed on the basis of the existing complaints-handling guidelines established by EIOPA (the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) for the insurance sector. The report was launched for a public consultation last year and this final version takes into consideration the feedback received.ESMA and the EBA consider that these guidelines will ensure a consistent approach to complaints-handling across the EU. Consumers can purchase financial services and products in the investment, banking and insurance sectors across the entire EU Single Market and these guidelines will allow them to refer to a single set of complaints-handling arrangements. EU consumers will therefore be able to rely on the same approach irrespective of what type of product they have purchased and where they have purchased it.In addition to strengthening consumer protection -a key statutory objective for ESMA and for the EBA-, the guidelines will also allow firms, some of which sell products from more than one sector across the EU, to streamline and standardise their own complaints-handling arrangements. National regulators too will be able to supervise the same harmonised requirements across all sectors of financial services in their own jurisdictions.The guidelines will be translated into the official languages of the European Union (EU) and they will become applicable two months after the date of publication of their translations.

ESMA response to the European Commission consultation on the IAS Regulation

ESMA today launches a process to renew the composition of the Consultative Working Group (‘CWG’) for the Corporate Reporting Standing Committee (’CRSC’). ESMA is therefore calling for expressions of interest from stakeholders. Application procedure, closing date Relevant stakeholders meeting the required selection criteria and wishing to apply for a position on the CWG are invited to submit, in English: •    a completed application form, and •    a detailed curriculum vitae (CV), preferably in the EU CV format  It is optional for applicants to attach a motivation letter (2 pages maximum). Unclear or incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications must be submitted by email using the application form by no later than 27 February 2015 to the following email addresses: corporate.reporting@esma.europa.eu