HEARING ON MEASURES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY IN EU CAPITAL MARKETS

04 Feb 2019, from 11:30 to 16:15 (Paris Time)

Hearing

Prospectus

ESMA Premises, 103, rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris - France

The hearing will take place at ESMA premises at: 103, rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris - France.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS HEARING IS FULLY BOOKED.

A recording of the hearing is available on ESMA's YouTube account

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will hold an open hearing on the following consultation papers:

ESMA's three public consultations on sustainable finance initiatives to support the European Commission’s (EC) Sustainability Action Plan in the areas of securities trading, investment funds and credit rating agencies (CRAs).

The first two consultations seek stakeholders’ input on draft technical advice for the integration of sustainability risks and factors into the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) (securities trading) and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and the Undertakings in Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Directive (investment funds). While the third consults on CRA guidelines aimed at improving the quality and consistency of disclosures of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when considered as part of a credit rating action.

The consultations focus on environmental, social and good governance considerations with regards to investment firms, investment funds and CRAs. The draft advice and proposed guidelines touch upon organisational requirements, operating conditions, risk management, conflicts of interest, product governance and disclosure requirements.

In addition, the hearing will also gather feedback on short-termism and on users' information needs with respect to corporate reporting in the context of sustainable finance.

In the session on corporate reporting, ESMA aims at collecting feedback on the current status of corporate reporting in the context of sustainable finance. Particularly, ESMA seeks the views of users of financial and non-financial information (e.g. investors and analysts) in relation to how current corporate reporting serves their needs for investment decision-making. For example, it would be useful to collect feedback on the following questions: does non-financial information as currently reported provides decision-useful information? Which reporting framework(s) for non-financial information have proved to be most relevant in practice? How well financial and non-financial statements provide insights into a company’s orientation to invest in the long term and to produce sustainable growth for its investors? How can ESMA further promote better information for sustainable finance while focusing on investor protection and financial stability?

As part of Action 10 of the sustainable finance action plan the European Commission asks ESMA to collect information on undue short-termism in capital markets. In this context at the public hearing ESMA aims at collecting evidence regarding the existence of undue short-termism and its drivers in ESMA’s remit (e.g. corporate reporting, asset management).

Date	Reference	Title
19/12/2018	ESMA34-45-569	Consultation paper on integrating sustainability risks and factors in the UCITS Directive and AIFMD
19/12/2018	ESMA35-43-1210	Consultation paper on integrating sustainability risks and factors in MiFID II
19/12/2018	ESMA 33-9-290	Consulation Paper on Disclosure Requirements Applicable to Credit Ratings
30/01/2019	ESMA22-105-661	Agenda for open hearing on sustainable finance
22/03/2019	esma32-334-93	Presentation on users needs in relation to corporate reporting
22/03/2019	esma_50-158-1567	Presentation on short-termism
22/03/2019	esma35-36-1590	Presentation on CPs MIFID-UCITS-AIFMD
22/03/2019	esma335-5-731	Presentation ESG factors in CRAs

HEARING ON MEASURES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY IN EU CAPITAL MARKETS

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