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Date Ref. Title Section Type Download Info Summary Related Documents Translated versions
10/10/2019 ESMA71-319-144 Building the EU Capital Markets Union while fostering global financial markets- EU-Asia Financial Dialogue/ASIFMA Conference International cooperation, Speeches, Supervisory convergence, Sustainable finance Speech PDF
135.51 KB

EU-Asia Financial Dialogue/ASIFMA Conference, Tokyo 10 October
13/02/2019 ESMA71-319-91 Brexit – the regulatory challenges Brexit, Fund Management, MiFID - Secondary Markets, Post Trading, Speeches, Supervisory convergence Speech PDF
175.3 KB

Steven Maijoor keynote at the European Financial Forum in Dublin
03/04/2018 ESMA71-99-959 ESMA proposes simplifications to prospectuses format and content Press Releases, Prospectus Press Release PDF
191.78 KB
07/02/2018 ESMA71-99-944 ESMA publishes 2018 Supervisory Convergence Work Programme Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
243.98 KB
29/11/2017 ESMA71-99-661 Peer Review on MiFID Compliance Function Press Release MiFID - Investor Protection, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
149.89 KB
18/07/2017 ESMA71-99-521 ESMA recommends improvements in financial information enforcement IFRS Supervisory Convergence, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
148.06 KB
13/07/2017 ESMA71-99-526 ESMA issues sector-specific principles on relocations from the UK to the EU27 Brexit, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
157.73 KB

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published three Opinions setting out sector-specific principles in the areas of investment firms, investment management and secondary markets, aimed at fostering consistency in authorisation, supervision and enforcement related to the relocation of entities, activities and functions from the United Kingdom .

The opinions, building on the general opinion issued in May, are practical tools to support supervisory convergence in the context of requests from UK financial market participants seeking to relocate to the EU27. They are addressed to national competent authorities (NCAs) and are relevant for market participants considering relocating.

They provide guidance to NCAs aimed at ensuring a consistent interpretation of the requirements relating to authorisation, supervision and enforcement in order to avoid the development of regulatory and supervisory arbitrage risks.

06/07/2017 ESMA71-99-514 Press release- ESMA proposes simplifications for prospectuses Press Releases, Prospectus Press Release PDF
191.96 KB
31/05/2017 ESMA71-99-469 ESMA issues principles on supervisory approach to relocations from the UK Brexit, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
143.31 KB

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an Opinion setting out general principles aimed at fostering consistency in authorisation, supervision and enforcement related to the relocation of entities, activities and functions from the United Kingdom. The opinion is addressed to national competent authorities (NCAs), in particular of the 27 Member States that will remain in the EU (EU27).

The opinion is a practical tool to support supervisory convergence in the context of increased requests from UK financial market participants seeking to relocate to the EU27. It covers all legislation referred to in the ESMA Regulation, in particular the AIFMD, the UCITS Directive, MiFID I and MiFID II.
11/04/2017 ESMA31-68-153 Closing Keynote CMU Mid Term Review Public Hearing- Steven Maijoor Speeches, Supervisory convergence Speech PDF
154.17 KB
09/02/2017 ESMA71-844457584-345 ESMA publishes 2017 Supervisory Convergence Work Programme Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
151.67 KB

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2017 Supervisory Convergence Work Programme (SCWP), which details the activities and tasks it will carry out to promote sound, efficient and consistent supervision across the European Union.

ESMA and national competent authorities (NCAs) will focus their supervisory convergence work on the following priorities:

  • the implementation of MiFID II/MiFIR and MAR including the underlying IT projects;
  • improving the quality to data collected by NCAs;
  • investor protection in the context of cross-border provision of services; and
  • convergence in the supervision of European Union CCPs.

These priorities have been developed taking into account different factors, including the market environment, legislative and regulatory developments, and NCAs’ supervisory priorities.
30/06/2016 2016/1047 Press Release Prospectus Peer Review Prospectus, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
188.52 KB
07/04/2016 2016/582 ESMA finds room for improvement in national supervision of investment advice to retail clients MiFID - Investor Protection, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
107.49 KB
29/03/2016 2016/406 ESMA publishes report on EU accounting enforcement in 2015 Corporate Disclosure, IFRS Supervisory Convergence, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
121.47 KB

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its annual report on the enforcement and regulatory activities of accounting enforcers within the European Union (EU) in 2015. ESMA continued strengthening supervisory convergence in the area of financial reporting to improve the consistency and quality across the EU, notably by issuing guidelines, publishing statements on areas of focus and coordinating enforcement decisions.

ESMA and national enforcers examined 189 listed issuers’ compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), across 26 countries, in the areas identified by the 2014 European Common Enforcement Priorities. The examination resulted in enforcement action against 40 (21%) issuers with regulators finding shortcomings in the disclosure of assumptions and judgements related to the:

  • recognition, measurement and disclosures of deferred tax assets arising from tax losses;
  • assessment of control over an entity in the absence of majority equity interest or majority shareholding rights; and
  • classification of joint arrangements.

National enforcers also reviewed the interim or annual financial statements of around 1,200 issuers, representing approximately 20% of issuers of securities listed on EU regulated markets, which led to action against 273 (25%) of those issuers examined. Enforcers found the main deficiencies were related to the presentation of financial statements, impairment of non-financial assets and accounting for financial instruments.
11/02/2016 2016/284 ESMA publishes first supervisory convergence work programme Corporate Information, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
107.18 KB

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its first Supervisory Convergence Work Programme 2016 (SCWP), which details the activities and tasks it will carry out to promote sound, efficient and consistent supervision across the European Union.

The publication of the SCWP expands on the high-level objective outlined in the Annual Work Programme 2016 and fulfils a key commitment in ESMA’s Strategic Orientation 2016-2020 to outline how it would refocus its resources from single rulebook to supervisory convergence work.
25/02/2015 2015/495 ESMA publishes review on best execution supervisory practices under MiFID MiFID - Investor Protection, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
112.68 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has conducted a peer review on how national regulators (national competent authorities or NCAs) supervise and enforce the MiFID provisions relating to investment firms’ obligation to provide best execution, or obtain the best possible result, for their clients when executing their orders. ESMA found that the level of implementation of best execution provisions, as well as the level of convergence of supervisory practices by NCAs, is relatively low. In order to address this situation a number of improvements were identified, including: . prioritisation of best execution as a key conduct of business supervisory issue; . the allocation of sufficient resources to best execution supervision; and . a more proactive supervisory approach to monitoring compliance with best execution requirements, both desk-based and onsite inspections. The review was conducted on the basis of information provided by 29 NCAs and complemented by on-site visits to the NCAs of France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland and Spain.
11/12/2014 2014/1478 ESMA reviews supervisory practices on MiFID investor information Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
136.83 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has conducted a peer review of how national regulators (national competent authorities or NCAs) supervise MiFID conduct of business rules on providing fair, clear and not misleading information to clients. The peer review focused on NCAs’ organisation, supervisory approaches, monitoring and complaints handling in relation to information and marketing communications under MiFID. The Report found that there was overall a high degree of compliance amongst NCAs with the good practices identified in these key areas. However, a variety of approaches were observed, leading to different intensity of supervision. A number of areas for improvement were identified. They include: enhanced use of on-site inspections and thematic reviews; a specific focus on conduct of business issues in firms’ risk assessments; and greater efforts to detect failings by firms in a timely manner. The review was conducted on the basis of information provided by NCAs in a self-assessment questionnaire and complemented by on-site visits to the NCAs of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair, said: “Providing fair, clear and not misleading information to clients is essential for investor protection and should be applied consistently throughout the EU. This review is a major step forward in ensuring that progress is being made towards convergence in this area by national regulators. “The report provides a thorough insight and analysis of national supervisory practices, facilitated by ESMA’s first on-site visits, and includes a number of recommendations which I urge national regulators to consider when reviewing their practices in this area”. Key Findings The review’s key findings covered the following areas: Ex-ante and ex-post supervision – supervisory systems are divided between ex-ante and ex-post reviews of marketing material. Within the ex-post approach there is also divergence in terms of the timeliness with which NCAs review the material following its dissemination and consider complaints made by clients of firms; Direct and indirect supervision – while some NCAs directly supervise firms’ compliance with their obligations relating to the provision of information and marketing material to clients, others rely on annual checks performed by external auditors. The latter approach may make it difficult to detect failings by firms in a timely manner due to the successive sampling process employed by auditors and then the NCA?s concerned; Complaints and Sanctions – a low level of complaints and equally low level of sanctions are reported by NCAs in the area of information and marketing to clients; and Definition of information and marketing communication - There is no precise definition of the term marketing communication in EU law: this would need to be further defined in order to build effective convergence of supervisory practices. Recommendations for future work The Report identifies a number of areas for future work by NCAs and ESMA which could promote a more coherent cross-EU application of the requirements. These include: establishing more robust structures and efficient coordination and cooperation arrangements between different supervisory units within NCAs; defining a clear set of information and marketing material to be supervised; assessing the frequency of NCAs’ monitoring of investor information and marketing; assessing the adequacy of monitoring the distribution channels used by firms including in the cross border provision of services; requiring investment firms to submit to their NCAs details of all information and marketing material to be provided including material used for cross-border business; considering the use of integrated databases to assist in supervision of information and marketing to clients; assessing the frequency and consistency of the use of sanctions by NCAs; and assessing the implementation and effectiveness of the guidelines for complaints-handling for the securities (ESMA) and banking (EBA) sectors. In addition, ESMA should continue its efforts, including the use of Opinions, in promoting the development of a level-playing field regarding the provision of information in an understandable format to clients and the quality of service to clients.
01/07/2013 2013/852 ESMA review finds good compliance with EU market abuse rules Market Abuse, Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
132.09 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a peer review of the supervisory practices EEA national competent authorities (NCAs) apply in enforcing the requirements of the Market Abuse Directive (MAD).  The Directive deals with the prevention of the dissemination of misleading information, the breach of reporting obligations and market abuse.  
15/04/2013 ESMA/2013/475 Press Release ESMA finds divergence in national supervision of money market funds Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
136.95 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a peer review report examining whether EU securities supervisors correctly apply ESMA’s guidelines on money market funds (MMFs).  The review compared supervisory and enforcement practices for MMFs of 30 supervisory authorities across the European Economic Area (EEA). ESMA reviewed those 20 jurisdictions that had transposed the guidelines into their national rules. 
24/05/2012 2012/330 ESMA finds high level of consistency in EU national regulators’ practices for the approval of investment prospectuses Press Releases, Supervisory convergence Press Release PDF
177.71 KB		 The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published today “Prospectus Directive – Good Practices in the approval process“,  a peer review report on the application of regulatory good practices by national supervisory authorities - competent authorities (CA)  when approving investment prospectuses.The review was conducted using good practice criteria that ESMA developed on selected areas of the Prospectus Directive dealing with the approval process for investment prospectuses.  The prospectuses provide investors with easy to understand and relevant information on investment products.  Peer review reports on national regulators’ procedures contribute to ESMA’s objective of fostering supervisory convergence and achieving a level playing field between jurisdictions.

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