According to Article 7(2) of the Short Selling Regulation, ESMA has to publish a list of the thresholds applicable to the sovereign issuers for the purpose of the notification to competent authorities of significant net short position in sovereign debt.

The way these notification thresholds are defined is further specified in the Commission Delegated Regulation No 918/2012 (the “DR”). The DR specifies that initial threshold categories shall be:
1.0.1% applicable where the total amount of outstanding issued sovereign debt is between 0 and 500 billion euros;
2.0.5% applicable where the total amount of outstanding issued sovereign debt is above 500 billion euros or where there is a liquid futures market for the particular sovereign debt.

The additional incremental levels shall be set at 50% of the initial thresholds. The reporting thresholds shall be monetary amounts fixed by applying the percentage thresholds to the outstanding sovereign debt of the sovereign issuer. They will be revised and updated quarterly to reflect changes in the total amount of outstanding sovereign debt of each sovereign issuer.

In addition, the DR states that the amount of outstanding debt should be calculated using a duration adjusted approach. ESMA has published a Q&A document on how to proceed for the duration adjustment.

The table of thresholds contains the name of the sovereign issuer, the amount of outstanding debt duration adjusted, the initial threshold amount and the relevant percentage, the incremental threshold amount and the relevant percentage.

Please note that the figures of the amount of outstanding debt are duration adjusted (not nominal amounts) and are approximations provided by competent authorities.

The three ESA Chairs have received two mandates to make amendments to the SFDR Delegated Regulation – adopted by the Commission on 6 April and currently under scrutiny.

The first one, received on 8 April, invites the ESAs to propose amendments in relation to the information that should be provided in pre-contractual documents, on website and in periodic reports about the exposure of financial products to investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy activities, reflecting the provisions set out in the Complementary Climate Delegated Act (CDA). The amendments should cover pre-contractual and periodic documents or information referred to in Article 6(3) and Article 11(2) SFDR and the product disclosures to be made on websites referred to in Article 10(1) SFDR, for financial products referred to in Article 8(1) to (2a) SFDR and in Article 9(1) to (4a) SFDR. The ESAs are invited to submit the amendments to the draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) as requested by the Commission at the latest by 30 September 2022. The amendments to the Delegated Regulation will have to ensure that the disclosures about the degree to which investments are in taxonomy-aligned activities provide for full transparency about investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy activities, in particular on the proportion such investments represent within all investments and in environmentally sustainable economic activities.

On 28 April 2022 the three ESAs Chairs received a second mandate to review the indicators for principal adverse impact (PAI) and the financial product disclosures in the SFDR Delegated Regulation. The Commission has invited the ESAs to (1) streamline and develop further the regulatory framework, (2) consider extending the lists of universal indicators for principal adverse impacts, as well as other indicators, and (3) refine the content of all the indicators for adverse impacts and their respective definitions, applicable methodologies, metrics and presentation. In addition, the mandate invites the ESAs to propose amendments regarding decarbonisation targets and to consider whether the financial products making taxonomy-aligned investments (referred to in Articles 5-6 of the Taxonomy Regulation) sufficiently address the disclosure and information on taxonomy-aligned economic activities. The ESAs should use this second mandate to develop draft RTS in accordance with Articles 4(6) and (7), 8(3), 8(4), 9(5), 9(6), 10(2), 11(4) and 11(5) SFDR in conjunction with Articles 10 of the ESAs Founding Regulations,3 and, where necessary, Article 2a(3) SFDR, and have been asked to provide their input at the latest within 12 months from the receipt of the letter, meaning by 28 April 2023. 

The three ESA Chairs have received two mandates to make amendments to the SFDR Delegated Regulation – adopted by the Commission on 6 April and currently under scrutiny.

The first one, received on 8 April, invites the ESAs to propose amendments in relation to the information that should be provided in pre-contractual documents, on website and in periodic reports about the exposure of financial products to investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy activities, reflecting the provisions set out in the Complementary Climate Delegated Act (CDA). The amendments should cover pre-contractual and periodic documents or information referred to in Article 6(3) and Article 11(2) SFDR and the product disclosures to be made on websites referred to in Article 10(1) SFDR, for financial products referred to in Article 8(1) to (2a) SFDR and in Article 9(1) to (4a) SFDR. The ESAs are invited to submit the amendments to the draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) as requested by the Commission at the latest by 30 September 2022. The amendments to the Delegated Regulation will have to ensure that the disclosures about the degree to which investments are in taxonomy-aligned activities provide for full transparency about investments in fossil gas and nuclear energy activities, in particular on the proportion such investments represent within all investments and in environmentally sustainable economic activities.

On 28 April 2022 the three ESAs Chairs received a second mandate to review the indicators for principal adverse impact (PAI) and the financial product disclosures in the SFDR Delegated Regulation. The Commission has invited the ESAs to (1) streamline and develop further the regulatory framework, (2) consider extending the lists of universal indicators for principal adverse impacts, as well as other indicators, and (3) refine the content of all the indicators for adverse impacts and their respective definitions, applicable methodologies, metrics and presentation. In addition, the mandate invites the ESAs to propose amendments regarding decarbonisation targets and to consider whether the financial products making taxonomy-aligned investments (referred to in Articles 5-6 of the Taxonomy Regulation) sufficiently address the disclosure and information on taxonomy-aligned economic activities. The ESAs should use this second mandate to develop draft RTS in accordance with Articles 4(6) and (7), 8(3), 8(4), 9(5), 9(6), 10(2), 11(4) and 11(5) SFDR in conjunction with Articles 10 of the ESAs Founding Regulations,3 and, where necessary, Article 2a(3) SFDR, and have been asked to provide their input at the latest within 12 months from the receipt of the letter, meaning by 28 April 2023. 

ESMA is seeking candidates for its newly established Consultative Working Group (CWG) of the Coordination Network on Sustainability (CNS). The CWG will have approximately 20 members, selected for a renewable term of two years, and will be composed of experts in sustainable finance.

ESMA is particularly interested in applications from experts representing institutional and retail investors, investment managers, investment services providers, issuers, benchmarks administrators, credit and ESG ratings providers, auditors, third-party verifiers, data providers, financial innovation players, market infrastructures and non-governmental organisations, think tanks or research units, with expertise in the field of sustainable finance.

Interested experts are invited to apply by 11 May 2022.