The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) competence to deliver an opin-ion is based on Article 29(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (ESMA Regulation).  In accordance with Article 44(1) of the ESMA Regulation, the Board of Supervisors has adopted this opinion.

1. ESMA is required to play an active role in building a common supervisory culture by promoting common supervisory approaches and practices among nationally appointed Sectoral Competent Authorities (‘SCAs’).

2. The purpose of this supervisory briefing is to provide guidance to SCAs in relation to the application of Articles 8c and 8d of the CRA Regulation and promote a common supervisory approach and enforcement of these Articles. In this regard, the Supervisory Briefing includes the following:

1. A Common Supervisory Approach as to which issuers and related third parties are covered by Article 8c and 8d; and,

2. A Standard Form for documentation in accordance with article 8d.

3. The common supervisory approach will assist SCAs as well as issuers and related third parties by clearly establishing who should be prioritised for supervision and enforcement under these Articles.

4. The Standard Form will assist SCAs by guaranteeing standardised and consistent data across different issuers and related third parties. It will also assist issuers and related third parties by providing clarity as to how they may meet their regulatory obligations under these Articles and simplify their internal processes by removing the need to develop in-house templates for documenting compliance under Article 8d.

5. The Supervisory Briefing will be published on ESMA’s website and on the websites of the nationally appointed SCAs.