ESMA LIBRARY

The ESMA Library contains all ESMA documents. Please use the search and filter options to find specific documents.
64
DOCUMENTS

REFINE YOUR SEARCH

Sections

Type of document

Your filters
Annual Report X Letter X Q&A X Technical Advice X Press Release X Corporate Governance X Procurement X CCP Directorate X Innovation and Products X Management Board X
Reset all filters

Pages

Date Ref. Title Section Type Download Info Summary Related Documents Translated versions
07/01/2021 ESMA71-99-1505 CFTC and ESMA Sign Enhanced MOU Related to Certain Recognized Central Counterparties CCP Directorate, Press Releases Press Release PDF
75.21 KB
15/03/2018 15-3-18 ESAs weigh benefits and risks of Big Data Innovation and Products, Press Releases Press Release PDF
20.5 KB
22/11/2011 2011/219 ESMA comment letter on the EU Commission Green Paper- The EU Corporate Governance Framework Corporate Disclosure, Corporate Governance Letter PDF
496.17 KB
08/11/2011 2011/371 Press release- Regulators elect Martin Wheatley to ESMA's Management Board Management Board, Press Releases Press Release PDF
131.43 KB
15/02/2012 2012/100 Regulators re-elect Jean Guill, Kurt Pribil and Fernando Restoy to ESMA’s Management Board Management Board, Press Releases Press Release PDF
111.25 KB
27/03/2012 2012/224 ESMA seeks views on proxy advisors Press Releases, Corporate Governance, Corporate Disclosure Press Release PDF
170.89 KB		 ESMA published last Thursday a discussion paper (ESMA/2012/212) on proxy advisors active in the European Union, seeking views of stakeholders. The paper aims at giving an overview of the state and structure of the market, advisor’s methodologies, and on possible policy options. Generally, proxy advisors assist (institutional) investors and asset managers in their voting policy and strategy.  Currently, there are no rules in place on a pan-European basis regarding proxy advisors. ESMA will use the feedback received on this paper to publish a feedback statement in Q4 of 2012, which will also include ESMA’s view on whether there is a need for policy action in the area.
12/11/2013 2013/1645 ESMA clarifies shareholder cooperation in takeover situations Corporate Disclosure, Corporate Governance, Press Releases Press Release PDF
86.55 KB		 ESMA clarifies shareholder cooperation in takeover situations The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a statement on practices governed by the Takeover Bid Directive (TBD), focused on shareholder cooperation issues relating to acting in concert and the appointment of board members. The statement contains a White List of activities that shareholders can cooperate on without the presumption of acting in concert. It also contains information on how shareholders may cooperate in order to secure board member appointments by setting out factors that national authorities may take into account when considering whether shareholders are acting in concert. The statement is in response to a request by the European Commission for clarity on these issues, following its 2012 report on the application of the TBD. It is based on information collected about the TBD’s application and common practices across the European Economic Area (EEA). The statement was prepared by the Takeover Bids Network, a permanent working group, under ESMA’s auspices, that promotes the exchange of information on practices and application of the TBD across EEA. Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said: “Today’s statement means that shareholders can now be confident that they can expect authorities to take a consistent approach across the EEA to their cooperative activities. This consistency should in turn provide the reassurance needed by shareholders for the effective, sustainable engagement that is one of the cornerstones of listed companies’ corporate governance model allowing them to hold their boards to account. “ESMA believes that ensuring a consistent and convergent supervisory approach to this issue will be instrumental in affording equality of treatment to shareholders and investors across the EEA.” National competent authorities will have regard to the White List when determining whether shareholders are persons acting in concert under national takeover rules, but will also take into account all other relevant factors in making their decisions. Shareholder cooperation and acting in concert - The White List When shareholders cooperate to engage in any of the activities listed below, that cooperation will not, in and of itself, lead to a conclusion that the shareholders are acting in concert: 1. entering into discussions with each other about possible matters to be raised with the company’s board; 2. making representations to the company’s board about company policies, practices or particular actions that the company might consider taking; 3. other than in relation to the appointment of board members, exercising shareholders’ statutory rights; 4. other than in relation to a resolution for the appointment of board members and insofar as such a resolution is provided for under national company law, agreeing to vote the same way on a particular resolution put to a general meeting. If shareholders cooperate in an activity not included on the White List, this will also not result in an automatic assumption that they are acting in concert. Each case will be determined on its own particular facts. Cooperation in relation to the appointment of members of the board of a company The White List does not include any activity relating to cooperation on board appointments, due to differences in Member State approaches towards determining whether shareholders who cooperate in relation to board appointments are acting in concert. However, shareholders may wish to cooperate in order to secure board members’ appointment in a company in which they have invested. This cooperation might take the form of: 1. entering into an agreement or arrangement (informal or formal) to exercise their votes in the same way in order to support the appointment of one or more board members; 2. tabling a resolution to remove one or more board members and replace them with one or more new board members; or 3. tabling a resolution to appoint one or more additional board members. The statement therefore indicates which factors may be considered when assessing whether such cooperation is indeed an act of acting in concert. ESMA will keep the public statement under review in order to ensure that it continues to reflect accurately the practices and application of the TBD in the Member States. 2013/1642 Public Statement - Information on shareholder cooperation and acting in concert under the Takeover Bids Directive. 2013/1643 Cover Note to the Public Statement
19/02/2013 2013/240 ESMA recommends EU Code of Conduct for proxy advisor industry Press Releases, Corporate Governance, Corporate Disclosure Press Release PDF
140.27 KB
15/03/2013 2013/311 Gérard Rameix elected to ESMA’s Management Board Management Board, Press Releases Press Release PDF
106.68 KB
04/07/2013 2013/889 ESMA Vice Chair and Management Board Election Results Management Board, Board of Supervisors Press Release PDF
93.43 KB		 ESMA Vice Chair and Management Board Election Results Vice Chair Re-elected The Board of Supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has re-elected Carlos Tavares as its Vice Chair. Mr. Tavares, who is Chairman of the Portuguese Comissão Do Mercado De Valores Mobiliários (CMVM), has completed an initial 2½ year term and will now serve a further term of 2½ years in the position. Management Board Election The terms of three members of ESMA’s Management Board expired and elections were held by the Board of Supervisors to fill the positions for a term of 2½ years. Those elected are: Kostas Botopoulos, Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC), Greece – new member; Klaus Kumpfmüller, Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA), Austria – new member; and Martin Wheatley, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), United Kingdom –re-elected for a second term. The outgoing members were Karl-Burkhard Caspari from the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) of Germany and Raul Malmstein of Estonia’s, Finantsinspektsioon. The Management Board, chaired by Steven Maijoor, the ESMA Chair, is responsible for ensuring that the Authority carries out its mission and performs the tasks assigned to it under the Regulation. The Management Board now consists of: Steven Maijoor, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA); Kostas Botopoulos, Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC), Greece; Klaus Kumpfmüller, Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA), Austria; Jean Guill, Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), Luxembourg; Gérard Rameix, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), France; Julie Galbo, Finanstilsynet, Denmark and Martin Wheatley, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), United Kingdom. Reference 2013/889
29/09/2014 2014/1191 ESMA Management Board Election Results Corporate Information, Management Board, Board of Supervisors, Press Releases Press Release PDF
90.35 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority has elected three new members to its Management Board to replace outgoing members whose term will expire in October this year. The election took place at the Board of Supervisors meeting in Rome on 25 September and the successful candidates, who will serve a term of 2½ years beginning on the 1 November 2014, are: • Cyril Roux, Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), Ireland – new member; • Gérard Rameix, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), France – ending first term and re-elected; and • Marek Szuszkiewicz, Komisja Nadzoru Finanswego (KNF), Poland – new member.
18/12/2014 2014/1568 Press Release- Investment-based crowdfunding needs EU-wide common approach Innovation and Products, Press Releases Press Release PDF
155 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an Opinion along with an Advice on Investment-based crowdfunding. The Opinion clarifies the EU rules applicable to crowdfunding, while the Advice highlights issues for consideration by the EU institutions to achieve greater regulatory and supervisory convergence within the EU.The Opinion is addressed to the national competent authorities (NCA) and provides clarity on how crowdfunding business models fit within the existing EU regulatory framework. It outlines how existing EU rules are likely to apply to crowdfunding platforms, depending on the precise business model used. It also provides guidance to NCAs who may be considering how to regulate platforms operating outside the scope of the harmonised EU rules on the key risks inherent to crowdfunding and the key components of a regulatory regime to address them.The Advice, addressed to the EU institutions – Commission, Parliament and Council, highlights the concern that strong incentives currently exist for crowdfunding platforms to structure their business models to fall outside the scope of regulation and asks them to consider policy options to reduce these incentives. Avoiding regulation presents risks to investor protection and makes it harder for platforms to grow their businesses.Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said: “ESMA’s aim is to enable crowdfunding to reach its potential as a source of finance, while ensuring that risks to users of crowdfunding platforms are identified and addressed in a proportionate and convergent way across the EU. “We believe that there are benefits both for investors as well as for platforms by operating inside rather than outside the regulated space. Opinion to National Competent AuthoritiesConsidering the diverse business models used within investment-based crowdfunding and depending on the precise structures used different EU legislation may apply. The Opinion sets out an analysis of how the main business models map across existing EU rules, e.g., the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), the Prospectus Directive, the Directive for Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMD) and other financial and banking regulations. In addition, the Opinion outlines what ESMA believes should be the key components of an appropriate regulatory regime for investment-based crowdfunding activities. ESMA’s Advice to the EU InstitutionsThe Advice to the EU institutions highlights gaps and issues in the current applicable regime where policymakers could consider taking action to ensure there is a regime protecting investors while also fit for purpose for crowdfunding platforms. These gaps and issues include: the impact of the Prospects Directive thresholds; capital requirements and the use of the MiFID optional exemption; and the potential development of a specific EU crowdfunding regime, in particular for those platforms that currently operate outside of the scope of MiFID The Opinion and Advice have been prepared in collaboration with and input from the European Banking Authority (EBA) on the regulation that falls within its scope of action, i.e. the Payment Services Directive, and constitute the first output of a co-ordinated programme of work with the next expected output being a publication by EBA on lending-based crowdfunding. In line with their respective remits, ESMA has focused on investment-based crowdfunding, while EBA has focused on lending-based crowdfunding.
27/03/2014 2014/334 ESMA issues good practices for structured retail product governance MiFID - Investor Protection, Innovation and Products Press Release PDF
105.37 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an opinion on structured retail products, setting out good practices for firms when manufacturing and distributing these products.
01/07/2015 2015/1005 Questions and Answers: Investment-based crowdfunding: money laundering/terrorist financing Innovation and Products Q&A PDF
157.73 KB
06/11/2015 2015/1627 ESMA appoints new members to its Management Board Management Board, Press Releases Press Release PDF
104.35 KB
23/02/2015 2015/168 Letter to EU Institutions re ESMA’s 2015 Work Programme Corporate Information, Management Board, Board of Supervisors Letter PDF
37.31 KB		 Dear Mr Gualtieri, Ms Ribkina and Commissioner Hill, On 30 September 2014 we sent you ESMA’s Work Programme for 2015, which was based on the budget request that had been approved by ESMA’s Board of Supervisors: a budget of €38,639,000 and 147 Establishment Plan posts. The EU budget had not been voted at the time. Following the adoption of the EU budget, ESMA’s 2015 expenditure budget is €33,601,402 (plus an additional €3,100,000 from assigned revenues for tasks delegated from National Competent Authorities) with an Establishment Plan of 137 posts. ESMA’s Board of Supervisors has approved a revised work programme to account for the difference of €5m and 10 Establishment Plan posts; representing a 15% reduction compared to the planned ESMA budget and 7% of its Establishment Plan. ESMA will therefore lack sufficient resources to execute all the tasks that were initially planned for 2015. The Work Programme explains the areas where reprioritisation had to take place, including the risk that ESMA will not fully meet its legal obligations, for instance due to the delay of delivery compared to legally set timetables. A summary of the deprioritised tasks is annexed to the Work Programme and reproduced in the table below. 2014/1200rev ESMA Work Programme
18/12/2015 2015/1871 Proxy advisors take steps towards increased transparency Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Press Releases Press Release PDF
157.9 KB
11/10/2016 2016/1458 ESMA to focus on supervisory convergence issues in 2017 Board of Supervisors, Management Board, Planning reporting budget, Press Releases Press Release PDF
230.38 KB

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2017 Work Programme which sets out its priorities and areas of focus for 2017 in support of its mission to enhance investor protection and promote stable and orderly financial markets.

The programme reflects the shift in focus of ESMA’s work, from building the single rulebook, towards ensuring its consistent application across the European Union (EU), as outlined in its 2016-2020 Strategic Orientation. The key areas of focus under ESMA’s activities of supervisory convergence, assessing risks, single rulebook and direct supervision will be:

  • Converging supervisory practices on the implementation of MiFIDII/MiFIR ;
  • Focusing on data quality;
  • Level 2 work on the Benchmarks Regulation and on various initiatives under the umbrella of the Capital Markets Union; and
  • Directly supervising credit rating agencies (CRA) and trade repositories (TR), with a particular focus on their ancillary activities given the trend of combining ancillary and core services.
15/12/2016 2016/1656 Press release- ESMA appoints new member to its Management Board Management Board, Press Releases Press Release PDF
143.86 KB
02/06/2016 2016/743 ESMA assesses usefulness of distributed ledger technologies Innovation and Products, Press Releases, Risk Analysis & Economics - Markets Infrastructure Investors Press Release PDF
152.48 KB

Pages