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.

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) annual report and work programme has been prepared according to Article 21 of Regulation 1060/2009 on credit rating agencies as amended (the CRA Regulation) and Article 85 of Regulation 648/2012 on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (EMIR). It highlights the direct supervisory activities carried out by ESMA during 2015 regarding credit rating agencies (CRAs) and trade repositories (TRs) and outlines ESMA’s main priorities in these areas for 2016.

ESMA adopts a risk-based approach to the supervision of CRAs and TRs in accordance with its overall objectives of promoting financial stability and orderly markets and enhancing investor protection. This risk-based approach requires the analysis of information from a variety of sources and the application of multiple supervisory tools including day-to-day supervision, cycle of engagement meetings with supervised entities, on-site inspections and dedicated investigations.

In order to build on the expertise that ESMA has developed through its supervision of CRAs and TRs, ESMA created a single Supervision Department in November 2015. ESMA intends to draw on the best practices identified from the supervision of both types of entity to further enhance its supervisory effectiveness in future.